Whose job is it to protect the integrity of what people love about Park County: the rural, western feel, the agriculture, the open land?

As Park County goes through the process of updating its land use plan, that’s something of a side question to all of the other questions about what kind of regulations the county should or shouldn’t put in place to limit or channel growth, protect land, etc.

Wyoming has traditionally been a live-and-let-live, conservative state with a libertarian bent. But that doesn’t mean property rights can always be followed to the logical extreme, such as being allowed to start an uncontrolled burn that destroys the neighbor’s field, or trying to put an intensive, commercial agricultural operation into a half-acre, neighborhood lot. 

What county leaders are trying to determine through the land use plan process is what the majority of residents want to see in the county in the future. In the winter, the process will switch to forming regulation changes that could address those issues people have raised.

But again, what should the county address, and what needs to be addressed elsewhere, if at all?

The consultants have even brought up this question throughout the process, noting some people have questioned whether a solution, even if its one they agree with, should be solved by the county government. 

It may sound pretty good when your neighbor isn’t allowed to subdivide their land below 30 acres, but what happens when a few years down the road you need the money and want to shave off a piece of your large lot? Or, are there some regulations that should be handled by homeowners associations instead of county government? 

Private property rights are incredibly important to the vast majority of Park County residents, but how many would like to see a seven-story hotel or tall cell tower blocking their view of Heart Mountain? Should we make areas of the county that are set aside for agriculture? That would protect a resource people love about Park County, but also mean possible county regulations limiting what a farmer can do with his land if he wants to sell. 

So, as we progress to another round of public comment sessions in early October and a final survey after that, we should also be thinking of what kind of role we want county government to take in protecting lifestyles, lands and culture.