A draft of a new Park County Land Use Plan will soon be revealed to the public for the first time.

Clarion Associates, the consultant working with the county to create the new plan, delivered the internal draft of the updated plan to county commissioners in early December. Since then, commissioners, staff, the Planning and Zoning Commission, Land Use Plan Advisory Committee and Technical Working Group have met in workshops to provide comments and thoughts on the plan draft.

Clarion has also been tweaking wording to create the new draft of the plan, with the intent to release it to the public early this month. It’s been a year since the county launched its first major update of the land use plan since 1998.

At multiple meetings and public input sessions, Park County Planning Director Joy Hill has said the impetus came in large part in response to the large influx of residents into the county following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The goal of the updated land use plan is to establish an overarching vision and goals for Park County. It also sets the policy foundation that will guide where and how Park County grows in the future — in general as well as within individual planning areas. The county will implement land use guidance established during the Plan Park County process through subsequent updates to the county’s development regulations. 

At a Jan. 10 staff meeting, Park County Commission Chairman Dossie Overfield asked about the implementation process and the wisdom of leaving in recommendations the county doesn’t plan to address right away.

“Clarion is offering strategies,” Hill said. “The county will be able to review the proposals.”

There’s also been concern from commissioners on whether the county should be encouraging something or simply offering it as an option, such as land conservation. In response to concerns by Commissioner Lloyd Thiel, Hill agreed to have a section altered to say the county recognizes conservation, as opposed to supporting it, in the broad sense.

“We're focusing a lot of attention on conservation, particularly land conservation,” Hill said. “We need to preserve open space, but is Park County’s job to preserve the land? One side screams property rights, the other side says preserve the land. This is reflected in our zoning … But that’s where we're stopping with our action; the other side is voluntary.

“We also have an education piece talking about land use,” Hill said. “Park County needs to do something, we want to recognize the importance, but we need to listen to our constituents.”

For more information on the land use plan, visit parkcounty-wy.gov/PlanParkCounty/.