Planning staff previews home-occupation tiers, data-center rules and short-term rental work for Sweetwater County

At the end of the Sweetwater County Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on June 10, planning staff summarized several proposed regulatory updates.

Staff member Eric said the county is rewriting home-occupation rules to adopt a tiered system intended to allow low-impact home businesses without permits while reserving permits or conditional-use review for moderate- and high-impact operations. "We're trying to bring it into the more modern. So it's going to be on a tier system which means the first one will actually not require permits," Eric said.

Eric also said staff is drafting data-center regulations. He noted the county currently lacks sufficient power and water capacity to host typical data centers and that multiple leads for prospective facilities have failed because Rocky Mountain Power could not supply the necessary electrical capacity. "The biggest issue is we don't even have enough power to even run them," he told commissioners, adding that water availability is another constraint and that data centers have become controversial in Wyoming.

Staff member Cassie said work on short-term rental regulations is ongoing following a public workshop and that staff appreciates input from participants as the rules are developed.

The commission heard these planning updates as nonaction items; no final policy decisions were made at the June 10 meeting. Staff indicated further drafting and public outreach will occur before any ordinance or formal regulation is advanced to the commission or board.