Park County commissioners gathered with members of the Land Use Plan Advisory Committee on Dec. 19 to look over details of the first draft of the county’s new land use plan. On Dec. 20, commissioners discussed some of the issues raised by the committee with Clarion, the consultant drafting the county’s new land use plan.

One of the major discussions was simply looking at the boundaries of the planning areas and where they don’t reflect current development.

For instance, “right now the Clark area comes clear down to the City of Cody, which does not make any sense to any of us,” said Commission Chairman Dossie Overfield, “because there is definitely a difference in what can happen in that southern area versus the actual Clark area. So we need to kind of look at that whole thing.”

County Planning Director Joy Hill said there could also be adjustments to the Cody and Powell local areas, as in both communities, development has pushed further out of city limits.

There’s also the matter of Ralston, a townsite with small lots but without the infrastructure to support continued growth, Hill said.

“A lot of those suggested changes that we’ve already talked about are coming because there’s been development in those areas that now doesn’t match the existing planning areas,” Hill said.

For instance, she said the Cody local area could be expanded, as developments and subdivisions have expanded into other areas such as Sage Creek. That way regulations for a zoning area reflect current conditions as opposed to outdated boundaries.

“We would want to make sure the boundaries between areas are where we’re expecting to see them, so when the cities are looking at expansion areas, they’ll fall in line,” she said.

Hence, the planning consultants are still working on the Land Use Plan map that will be released as a part of the next draft that is revealed publicly. Hill said discussions are also underway with the cities on what areas are zoned for.