Converse officials take coordinated approach to growth
RENA DELBRIDGE Star-Tribune correspondent | Posted: Friday, November 23, 2007 12:00 am
DOUGLAS - With unprecedented growth countywide, two communities and county government are taking an innovative approach to planning.
They want to work together.
The city of Douglas, town of Glenrock and Converse County are asking the Wyoming Business Council to approve a $25,000 grant to craft a countywide growth management plan. The three entities would match those funds for a total project cost of $45,000, Douglas city administrator Bobbe Fitzhugh said.
Communities often seek the Business Council planning grants independently, but rarely, if ever, do multiple jurisdictions ask to plan together, she said.
Political relationships among the three governing bodies are such that this sort of project is possible, she added.
The time is ripe. Glenrock and Douglas are seeing growth spill beyond municipal limits. Rural subdivisions are growing quickly, especially those close to cities. But the county lacks zoning and an enforceable land use plan to control or even monitor that development, commission Chairman Jim Willox said.
"Our hands are pretty much tied," Commissioner Ed Werner added. A joint management plan is essentially the only influence the county could have over development.
Werner wants to avoid what he calls a "spider web of diminishing utilities" reaching out from city limits. As parcels here and there are annexed over the years, some cities may find themselves extending their web of services - but only just enough to supply a given parcel at the time of annexation. Eventually the services can't be extended any farther, limiting additional annexation without a total rework of city services, he said.
"If everybody does it piecemeal, you get a piecemeal answer," Willox said.
Of particular concern are the several-mile radiuses surrounding each municipality. Those areas tend to grow fastest, are likely to eventually request annexation, and draw the most from city resources such as water and sewer, roads and fire protection.
"The overriding goal is to provide a framework for managing growth," Fitzhugh said. The entities will be able to jointly plan infrastructure expansions and identify the areas most suited to new residential building. The plan could result in some new regulations in peripheral areas.
Because the county lacks zoning or a land use plan, the only tool planners have to gauge development is applications for septic permits, county special projects director Paul Musselman said. He used to receive about one application a month. In fall 2006, that jumped to three or four a month, and is holding steady.
Glenrock, like many places, is wincing from a housing crunch.
"Being in the middle of Casper and Douglas, anytime those two places feel a crunch, so do we," town planner Kathy Patceg said. She's not concerned about properties 10 or more miles from town. The properties next to the municipal boundaries are what worry her.
"Everybody kind of wants to have their little piece of heaven," Patceg said. "They want to get out where the lots aren't so small. The only problem is, that makes our infrastructure stretch even further."
While the town isn't mandated to provide services outside its boundaries, Patceg said policy is to allow rural hook-ups for a higher tap fee. Douglas offers similar services, although a moratorium on new water hook-ups is in place pending completion of a water treatment plant renovation.
A countywide plan could set some zoning regulations in peripheral areas. That could help in Douglas, too, where land surrounding the city is rapidly sporting new homes, some in old subdivisions and some in new.
Joe Coyne, executive director of Converse Area New Development Organization, lauded the spirit of cooperation, saying it is critical that partners work together.
"We need smart, well-planned growth," he said, projecting a number of strong industries that will bring new employees to the area in the next few years. By planning now, the entities can be prepared to provide housing, attract entire families and still maintain the sense of community that current residents want to keep.
"We're in a position to have our cake and eat it too," he said.
The local governments expect to hear whether the Business Council has approved their grant around Dec. 6, Fitzhugh said.