Editorial

One thing is very clear: Area residents want county to protect ag land

Posted 10/11/22

Powell area residents could hardly be more clear: Protect our prime ag land.

Now it’s up to the land use plan consultants to turn that message into a key piece of the new plan. Then, …

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Editorial

One thing is very clear: Area residents want county to protect ag land

Posted

Powell area residents could hardly be more clear: Protect our prime ag land.

Now it’s up to the land use plan consultants to turn that message into a key piece of the new plan. Then, it’s up to the Park County Commissioners to turn that into new regulations to ensure that what they have heard is followed through on. 

Finally, as one resident said in Heart Mountain Hall to around 80 residents, we as residents need to hold our elected officials’ feet to the fire and ensure that, once new regulations are in place, the next time a subdivision is proposed on irrigated ag land far outside city limits, Park County officials should follow the will of the plan and vote no.

There are plenty of areas where area residents are more mixed in terms of what they’d like to see in the future. What should the county do to support more affordable housing? It’s complicated. Should the county do a lot more to support commercial businesses outside city limits? Mixed opinions.

But there was near unanimous agreement that any wind or solar farm proposals should be heavily scrutinized and regulated if even allowed at all. 

And, as numerous farmers who rose up to speak attested to, ag land needs to be protected, especially around a town that was founded as an irrigation hub. 

It’s not to say the area residents are calling for no new residents, nor even new subdivisions. Instead, we’re asking the county to finally uphold what it said it would do after the last land use plan in the late ’90s and limit new subdivisions to around the main municipalities of Powell, Cody, Frannie and Meeteetse. Or, if a developer really wants to build further out, find land not already being farmed and not connected to the irrigation canals that have turned a once barren desert into an oasis of agriculture. 

As one farmer said at last week’s meeting, at some point enough prime ag land could be removed to topple the whole, mutually supportive industry around Powell. We can’t let that happen, so we need to ensure, as county planning director Joy Hill implored, that county leadership follows through this time and doesn’t allow lots as low as 1 acre in zones filled with prime ag land. 

If the county does this right, not only will it protect our No. 1 industry and the livelihoods of thousands, but it may just give people more faith in their local government, a sense that their voice was, indeed, heard. 

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