An irrigation supply business has been cleared to build a new shop just southwest of Powell.

Copper Mountain Irrigation received a special use permit from Park County commissioners last month, allowing the company to construct a 3,720 square foot building off U.S. Highway 14-A.

The facility will include two offices, a bathroom, reception area and, primarily, warehouse space, according to county documents. It will be located on a 7.78-acre parcel of former agricultural land that sits along Road 11, just north of the highway.

Copper Mountain Irrigation (CMI) sells Zimmatic center pivot sprinkler systems, along with the associated pipes, parts and service. CMI also rebuilds irrigation motors and pumps at its Powell shop, county documents say.

Three full-time employees will work out of the new building, but most of the time they’ll be out in the field, building and maintaining pivots, Park County Assistant Planner Kim Dillivan told commissioners on Sept. 15; CMI representatives think that the increased traffic brought about by the new building on Road 11 “will be infrequent and minimal,” Dillivan said.

CMI currently operates out of a location on Lane 9H, just east of Powell city limits. The company, which was established in Worland in 2013, first applied for the special use permit for the new shop in May.

Commissioners unanimously approved the permit on Sept. 15. They also removed a condition recommended by staff that would have required CMI to reseed all of the disturbed, non-gravel areas of the property with a certified weed-free perennial grass mixture.

“I don’t think that we should be telling people how to landscape outside their area,” said Commissioner Lloyd Thiel, saying the business should be able to choose what vegetation they use.

It’s possible that more business development could be coming to the area along U.S. Highway 14-A: A mid-August email from County Planning and Zoning Director Joy Hill that happened to be included in planning documents mentioned that a “potential land buyer” has been “considering a car sales business” on a 4.5-acre lot just east of the Park County Weed and Pest Building. Hill said in a Monday email that she has “no idea” if the interested person plans to pursue the idea further.