Park County could add up to 3,778 new residents by 2040, according to data compiled by the state and Clarion, the county’s Land Use Plan consultants, so the key questions for the upcoming second round of public meetings are: Where and how should the county grow? And based on the demographics of those coming in as well as the needs of the local economy, what regulation changes could help?

Clarion staff announced a new round of public meetings for early October at a Park County commissioners’ meeting  last Tuesday. They also revealed more information on  trend forecasts, which give a glimpse of the county where much growth is in retirees and more workers are commuting from out of county, as a good portion of the increase in development goes to short-term rentals and seasonal and retired residents. The number of new residents over age 65 has been rising at around 3% per year from 2000-2020.

“The workforce growth rate is significantly lower, barely above zero, especially for younger residents,” said Matt Prosser, with Economic and Planning Systems in Denver, which is working with Clarion. “We’re seeing the senior population becoming a greater share of the overall population. To sustain a recent rate of economic activity, the regional labor force needs to grow.”

That shows up clearly in the data, where 9.6% of workers commuted into the county in 2002, a number that more than doubled in 2019 to 20%. 

The meetings in October will be the last round  before work on a draft of policies to address key pieces of the land use plan begin to be developed. Some of those policies, Prosser said, could mitigate the negative impacts of the current growth. 

According to the current timetable, the consultants plan to be working on draft proposals, based on input from the October public meetings, in time for the end of the year. There will be one more round of public meetings early next year for comments on the draft land use plan, with final draft ready to be submitted in April. 

The consultants have looked at what land is most suitable for growth, finding Powell far and away the most suitable of all areas, although Cody local, Cody/Powell rural and other areas were also deemed among the most suitable for more development, while areas such as Clark and Meeteetse were deemed less suitable. 

Those areas with more suitability, and thus already seeing more development, will have nighttime meetings, while daytime meetings will be held in Clark and Meeteetse, which also had fewer responses in earlier rounds of meetings. 

“It’s more and more important that we hear from folks on specific areas and what they’d like to see,” consultant Darcie White said. 

In addition to the meetings, there will also be a final public survey Oct. 7-31. 

All meetings will provide opportunities for participants to provide input on specific planning areas.

In-person: 

Monday, Oct. 3:

• 5:30-7 p.m., North Fork: Wapiti School

Tuesday, Oct. 4:

• 5:30-7 p.m., Cody: Cody Auditorium

Wednesday, Oct. 5:

• Noon-1:30 p.m., Meeteetse: Meeteetse Visitor Center (Ferret Den)

• 5:30-7 p.m., South Fork: Southfork Fire Hall

Thursday, Oct. 6:

• Noon-1:30 p.m., Clark: Clark Pioneer Recreation Center

• 5:30-7 p.m., Powell: Park County Fairgrounds, Heart Mountain Hall

Virtual:

Wednesday, Oct. 12:

• 5:30-7 p.m., ZOOM us02web.zoom.us/j/82053131845