A draft map of how Park County properties might be zoned under the county’s new land use plan is drawing concerns from residents, who are worried about how their properties could be affected if the changes become official.

However, as Commission Chair Dossie Overfield has clarified on a number of occasions, the draft map is just that, a draft, and one without any commissioner input as of yet. After further input, there will be at least one more draft map to reflect the new wave of comments. 

The potential new map, which was available online at engageparkcounty.com until the end of May, was based on the early rounds of public input on the county’s Development Standards and Regulations phase two input sessions. Currently, the City of Powell is ringed by sections of Transitional, Rural Residential one-half acre, Residential 2 acre, Commercial and Industrial chunks, with most of the land beyond that designated as General Rural-Powell (GR-P). The zoning runs along U.S. Highway 14A east to the county border and west to around the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center, aside from Ralston. 

Around Powell, everything south of Lane 10, east of Road 6, north of Lane 7 ½ and west of Road 11 is covered by this zoning, as well as a number of areas closer into town. 

GR-P doesn’t allow everything, but it does allow lot sizes as low as 1 acre. That’s led to frustration from many over the years as it covers properties far away from the infrastructure that would be expected for a subdivision of 1-acre lots.

In the first draft map based on prior public input, large tracts of GR-P are replaced with a greater variety of zones, including Estate Residential, Rural Residential, Agriculture and even Industrial. But judging by the comments received to date, there is not a lot of support for how much more industrial zoned areas are shaded around Powell — and there are concerns that, beyond raising the minimum lot size, the new zonings could be more restrictive for uses. 

Park County Planner Joy Hill and Overfield have both previously said they have no intent to limit ag.

In planning workshops, residents in the Cody-Powell Rural planning area said land uses for the Estate Residential zoning area — which includes rural subdivisions and has a 5-acre-lot minimum — should include all agriculture uses aside from a feedlot. 

How a feedlot is defined then, becomes the question. 

In a previous letter to the editor, rural Powell resident Carrie Peters suggested the draft definitions could bar those in Estate Residential zoning from having a 4-H project animal, as there would have to be a place to feed livestock.

The draft also suggests changing large sections of land just south of U.S. Highway 14A on either side of Powell to industrial zoning, which has caused additional concern. Greg Anderson recently told commissioners that a switch to industrial zoning for the land he farms would limit his future plans.

Under the draft rules, industrial zones are also the only places where an adult entertainment business can be started without having to acquire a special use permit; having to allow adult entertainment businesses anywhere provoked controversy early in the DSR process. 

What zone you wind up in does not, however, have any bearing on taxes, as that is based on the use of the property.

Peters, who’s been one of the most outspoken critics of the county’s process, told members of the Legislature’s joint ag committee on Wednesday that her experience has led her to believe there are some loopholes in the state’s “Right to Farm” law.

“I’m very fearful from what I see happening in Park County with these new land use changes being suggested that there will be further restrictions on ag,” Peters said. She suggested the state may need to clarify that existing farms remain protected from neighbor complaints even when they change uses — such as from say, changed from a cattle operation to a pig farm.

Sen. Tim French, R-Powell, the ag committee’s co-chair and Peters’ father, said the panel and its staff would research her concerns and discuss it at a later meeting.

“I think it’s something [that] sounds like it needs to be addressed,” said French. The Heart Mountain producer said “Right to Farm” legislation is important, especially as communities develop.

“We will try to get some answers for you,” French told Peters.

As for the county’s draft zoning map, the time to comment on that document ended last month. Overfield said there will be at least one more map with revised zoning, if not more, before it’s finalized. The county’s consultants are now compiling input from the first draft and will speak with commissioners and the planning and zoning board before going back to the public for more input. 

(CJ Baker contributed reporting.)