Tuesday, April 7th, 2026 |
Photo – Carbon County Official Seal – Bigfoot99 File Photo
After months of delays, Carbon County’s revised land use plan is set to be completed this summer.
In 2023, county officials began working with Y2 Consultants, a Wyoming‑based engineering and survey firm, to update the official Carbon County Land Use Plan, which outlines where specific types of development should occur to balance economic growth with resource preservation and public safety. The previous land use plan was created in 2012 and updated in 2016.
During Monday’s Carbon County Planning and Development Committee meeting, Planning and Development Coordinator Kristy Rowan said the land use steering committee, made up of residents and local stakeholders, had not met since July of 2025. After nearly nine months of delay, largely due to staffing changes at Y2 Consultants, Rowan said the group has now received an updated land use plan draft. The planning and development coordinator advised the committee that the document is likely to change before they receive the official version.
Rowan said the Carbon County Land Use Plan Steering Committee is scheduled to meet again on April 29th to review the draft plan. Afterwards, Y2 Consultants will make any recommended changes and resubmit the draft by mid‑May. The Planning and Development Commission will receive the amended document shortly thereafter.
Next, Y2 Consultants range scientist Bree Burton said she’ll incorporate the recommended changes from the April 29th steering committee meeting and have an updated draft ready for the Planning and Development Commission to review by May 4th.
Planning Commission Chairman Rich Wilson urged Burton to schedule an additional steering committee meeting before submitting the draft land use plan to the commission. Wilson said that last July, the steering committee spent several hours working through the original seven‑page document, and the new draft is nearly 20 times as large.
Burton said she’ll see how much of the draft the steering committee covers during the first meeting and add another session if needed.
Soon after beginning the land use plan update in 2023, Y2 Consultants sent postcards to ranchers and other stakeholders, seeking their participation in a survey. When too few people took the survey, it was opened to all Carbon County residents to complete online.
Planning Commission member Karen Kurtak asked if the land use plan listed the ages of the survey respondents. Kurtak said she was concerned that the online survey may have alienated older county residents.
Y2 Consultants range scientist Bree Burton said she will check if age demographics were collected during the survey process and report her findings to the Planning and Development Commission.
Kurtak also asked to see the source of the county’s tourism revenue broken out in more detail in the updated land use plan.
Burton said she would incorporate the Planning Commission’s corrections and suggestions into the draft land use plan before it goes to the steering committee on April 29th. If the process stays on track, the Planning Commission will receive the final draft by May 18th. At that point, the Commission may choose to recommend the plan to the Board of Carbon County Commissioners for further review and official adoption.
Due to the land use plan’s complexity, Planning and Development Coordinator Kristy Rowan recommended that both the Planning and Development Commission and the Board of Carbon County Commissioners hold individual 45‑day public comment periods before adopting the completed document.
