The Park County Commissioners rejected Tuesday a request by a Wapiti property owner to expand operation of Pure Heart Retreat, a business that includes a yoga studio and short term rentals, housed in geodesic domes, into the winter months.

It was a rare vote that required Chair Dossie Overfield to break a tie and cast the deciding vote alongside Scott Steward and Lee Livingston. Livingston said he struggled with the issue as he didn't like Game and Fish dictating to private property owners, but also noted that the current Special Use Permit restrictions were those the property owners had already agreed. Scott Mangold had motioned and Lloyd Thiel had seconded approving the amended SUP to allow operations through the winter aside from March and April, as Game and Fish had recommended to preserve crucial mule deer habitat for those months.

Last summer Mike Gimmeson, the property owner, had been approved to construct five geodesic domes on his Green Creek property for operation May 1-Nov. 14.

The commissioners approved the SUP with the condition, recommended by Game and Fish, to not allow operation in the winter months to protect mule deer habitat.

Since then, according to county planner Kim Dillivan, a Game and Fish official had gone to the property and revised his original determination by saying it would only be needed to halt operations for March-April.

Thiel and Mangold pointed to that decision as reason to approve the amendment.

"People's ambitions change and I can't fault them for that," Thiel said. "We took the advice of the professionals, and they have since reevaluated ... I'm going to take the professional's advice."

If approved, it still wouldn’t have been all of what the Gimmesons wanted, as Taylor Gimmeson said a two month gap in yoga classes would be an issue. She said they had interest from not just other yoga instructors but a massage therapist and local martial arts instructors to use the space, especially during the winter months, she said, when there's little going on in the Wapiti Valley.

She said multiple area residents had expressed interest in going to winter classes.

However, a number of residents in the Green Creek area objected to the amended SUP — as some had objected to the initial SUP — for a few reasons, including to protect wildlife habitat and because the domes are more visible than they had thought they initially would be.

"The domes were moved a bit further out into the open space, which neighbors weren't expecting," Overfield said. "I can understand some of their concerns."