Park County residents are paying attention. 

The number of county residents who provided feedback, especially via an online questionnaire, surprised the consultants from Logan Simpson working on the county’s regulation amendments spurred on by the new land use plan. 

In all, 1,865 people submitted comments on the online questionnaire, with roughly 75% giving recommendations about the same planning area they live in. 

“We're thrilled to see this many people who are interested in the process and want to provide input,” consultant Melissa Ruth said during a Tuesday commissioners meeting. “And it makes our job a lot easier, and also lets us know what the public is thinking, rather than trying to make quite as many judgment calls. So we love to see these numbers.”

The largest number of respondents came from Cody Powell Rural (359 respondents), encompassing a swath of land on both sides of U.S. Highway 14A between the two towns and the focus of previous larger developments outside of the towns. Respondents from Cody Local (285), Clark (199), Powell Local (111) and North Fork (99) accounted for much of the rest, with the smaller planning areas responding at proportionally smaller levels.

One commonality across the vast majority of respondents was in supporting agriculture uses with no, or at most very limited, governmental intervention, such as requiring a permit. 

For instance, in Clark, 95 respondents out of 199 total said ag uses should be allowed with not even a permit. 

“Looking at the entire county, you saw that agricultural uses, when asked about the level of review … is really allowing agriculture in all areas with very limited review in general,” Ruth said. 

She added that there will be much more detailed info for each planning area available at the next set of open houses being held starting next week across the county. 

“So what we're looking at is trying to strike that balance between any sort of conflicting opinions, and then also capturing the inconsistencies and the consistent opinions from use to use,” said fellow consultant Sophie Frankenburg. 

Ruth said one area of conflicting opinions in general was what people in specific planning areas thought would be best to determine lot sizes. She said some people favor lot size minimum averaging, as is the case right now (in General Rural-5 you could subdivide a 15 acre lot into 4, 5 and 6 acre parcels, for instance) and others who prefer a hard minimum lot size. 

Ruth said the next round of meetings will be beneficial both for those who have already been involved and for those who have yet to provide any input or attend a meeting.

Meeting schedule:

March 26, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. 

Clark Pioneer Recreation Center

321 Rd. 1AB, Clark

March 26, 5-7 p.m. 

Heart Mountain Hall at Fairgrounds

655 East 5th St., Powell

March 27, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

Meeteetse Conservation District Office

1906 State St., Meeteetse 

March 27, 5-7 p.m.

Wapiti School Gym

3167 N. Hwy, Cody 

March 31, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. 

Cody Auditorium

1240 Beck Ave., Cody

March 31, 5-7 p.m. 

South Fork Fire Hall

3 Road 6NQ, Cody