As a bevy of farmers and others in ag stood up one-by-one to talk, one theme was driven home above all others: The vast majority of Powell residents want irrigated ag land to be better protected by the county in the future. 

Most Powell residents who showed up to a county land use input session Thursday at Heart Mountain Hall want the county to do a lot more in the future to limit subdivisions outside of town and protect prime ag land from development. 

“The planning future cannot simply evolve to the idea that private property rights reign supreme,” said Gary White, retired from the seed production business. “I believe the county commissioners and planners have to take first bold steps for food security and that starts with seed security.”

He said one key point he would like to see is not allowing any land served by any of the area irrigation districts from being subdivided. 

Roughly 80 people filed into the hall at the fairgrounds to give their opinion using forms, boards and electronic clickers on what they’d like to see in and around Powell in the future and what’s important. It was the second-best turnout for this round of public input sessions, trailing only Clark, where roughly 120 people showed up to the rec center after residents received timely reminder postcards, said county commission chair Dossie Overfield.

“We were going to start and then saw all of the people lining up to come in so we had to move to a bigger space,” she said. 

In Clark, worries over large developments such as the recent proposal for a hotel/health retreat near the mouth of the canyon were front of mind, although on many questions most residents said they wanted little change from the status quo of county regulation. 

In Powell, most residents said they want much more county involvement in protecting ag land, assisting the ag industry and in regulations to limit where any new subdivisions could be created. 

Of the roughly 80 residents who showed up to the hall and were taken through a series of billboards to say where they lived and their thoughts on some of the major issues, 75% came from the Cody/Powell planning area that covers the area along U.S. Highway 14A and the Heart Mountain area along with rural areas east, north and west of Powell, and most of the rest came from the areas just outside Powell city limits. 

People heavily favored support of agriculture and agri-business and a large plurality favored the county taking a proactive approach to changing zoning regulations and adjusting lot sizes that can be as small as 1 acre in much of the rural area around town. More than three quarters of the people in the hall want at least some if not a lot of emphasis on changing development rules. 

“If that (1 acre zoned land) all got developed, there’d be a capacity for 424,000 lots, consultant Paul Donegan said. “There’s a ton of capacity, but the current regulations are not telling anyone where growth makes sense.”

Aside from protecting ag land, the only area where residents spoke in as much unanimity was in wanting proactive regulations and rules by the county to limit where and if any proposed private, commercial solar or wind farms could be located in the region. Darcie White with consultant Clarion said the series of questions on renewable energy were asked as a way to prepare the county for a trend that could be coming soon. She said already a private business had looked into proposing a roughly 80 acre solar farm near Frannie. As far as wind farms, 86% of respondents requested the county to take a proactive approach to highly regulate the industry and thus severely restrict where they could be located. With solar panels, 80% answered the same. 

One man asked why it couldn’t be just a yes/no question, to which White responded that the consultants wanted to allow for more nuance, such as people being OK with a wind farm in some areas but not others. 

At least one man in the crowd provided some nuance to the question of ag land protection, saying that people like his family, which has 2.5 acres outside of Powell, should be able to have the space to have a horse, or a steer. He did note that he was not asking for good irrigated farm land to be turned into subdivisions, just room for lots that include a house and a few acres for families. 

Hill said ag has changed to the point where small acreages can be considered commercial ag and that the activity was more important than the acreage. She said those rules on what constitutes ag could be updated as part of the process going forward. 

She also implored people to talk to the commissioners, most of whom were present, to ensure that this time, unlike in 1998, the plan turns into regulations that reflect the will of the people.

“Talk to the county commissioners,” she said. “Tell them what you want to see in your planning area.

“You live here, this is your neighborhood, you should have a say.”

NEXT STEPS

The Powell session was the last public input session during this round. However, there is a virtual meeting 5:30-7 p.m. Wednesday at us02web.zoom.us/j/82053131845. There is also a survey available at parkcounty-wy.gov/planparkcounty through the end of the month.

Following the public input, Clarion will work on a draft plan to be prepared and given to county leadership in early December. 

After revisions made by county staff and commissioners, Clarion will present a full draft plan to the public in January and provide another opportunity for public input around the county. The plan is for a final plan to be brought before the commissioners in April, at which point there will be another public hearing before voting to adopt.