March 13, 2024 |
Photo – Y2 Consultants logo – Courtesy Y2 Consultants
Time is now to speak or hold your peace on land use in Carbon County. Public outreach efforts are set to end for the county’s Land Use Master Plan update.
In June of 2023, the Carbon County Planning and Development Department began the process of modernizing the county’s outdated land use development plan. The county’s land use plan determines where different types of development should be located, such as residential, commercial, or agricultural. The updated map will use citizen feedback to guide the county’s future growth.
The county hired Cheyenne-based surveying firm, Y2 Consultants, to handle the Land Use Plan update. Last year, Y2 Consultants created an online survey to collect data from county residents. The survey asked respondents to rank the importance of different aspects of Carbon County, such as recreation and energy production.
Speaking at the March 5th Board of Carbon County Commissioners meeting, Y2 Consultants Range Scientist Bree Burton said information collected through the online survey is being analyzed. However, Burton said the Land Use Plan steering committee requested more in-person interviews with Carbon County landowners before beginning the next phase of the project.
Burton said Y2 contacted large-scale ranching and agriculture landowners, developers, and both Carbon County school districts seeking feedback on the Land Use Plan. Y2 Consultants Senior Planner Megan Nelms described some of the other stakeholders her firm has reached out to for comment.
Even with a widescale publicity campaign, including online posts, newspaper ads, and radio stories, Nelms said it has been challenging to get people to take the online survey. The senior planner said the steering committee would like to encourage more stakeholders to comment on the Land Use Plan update.
Despite the difficulty in getting responses, Range Scientist Burton said enough people took the online survey to make it a worthwhile tool in creating the Land Use Plan update. Burton said Y2 Consultants will summarize what was learned through the online survey and share the information with the steering committee and county officials.
Burton said Y2 Consultants will be ending the public comment period of the Land Use Plan update once the remaining stakeholders have been interviewed. Commission Chairwoman Sue Jones offered the board’s assistance in reaching out to additional stakeholders.
Commissioner Garrett Irene also offered the board’s help in reaching out to stakeholders. However, Commissioner Irene said a portion of his constituents felt that the survey contained an underlying anti-oil bias.
Senior Planner Nelms thanked the commissioner for his comment, calling it, “great feedback.”
The Y2 Consultants representatives said they will begin taking the comments received through the online survey and using them to determine where changes to the county’s existing land use plan may be needed. More steering committee meetings will be required before a completed Land Use Master Plan can be presented to the board of commissioners.
