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Commissioners approve Wild Horse Ranch community center permit with environmental conditions
Summary
Albany County commissioners approved a conditional-use permit for a Wild Horse Ranch community center, imposing conditions to locate building and wastewater facilities outside the floodplain and to follow conservation district and Game and Fish recommendations to protect pronghorn winter range and limit erosion.
Albany County commissioners voted to approve a conditional-use application from the Wild Horse Ranch Property Owners Association to build a community center and ancillary facilities on roughly 35 acres, with conditions to reduce environmental impacts.
Planner David presented the application, saying the building would serve community gatherings, meetings, recreation and storage for fire-suppression equipment and noted portions of the site extend into mapped floodplain and wetlands adjacent to Lake Hattie. David told commissioners the two principal concerns raised during the interagency review were protecting pronghorn wintering habitat and keeping structures and wastewater facilities out of the floodplain. “The 2 main issues are the pronghorn wintering habitat… and then just building away from the flood plain,” David said.
County staff summarized comments from the State Engineer’s Office (wells must be permitted), the Laramie Rivers Conservation District (soil suitability and erosion mitigation), the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (habitat protections and invasive-species controls) and recommended that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers be consulted because of nearby wetlands. The planning and zoning commission recommended approval with conditions; the board’s motion adopted the staff analysis and added conditions requiring documentation that building and wastewater systems will be sited outside the floodplain, adherence to the conservation district’s erosion-control recommendations, and implementation of Wyoming Game and Fish habitat protections.
A commissioner asked whether fire apparatus stored in the building would be county equipment; the applicant clarified the apparatus would be associated with Wild Horse Ranch and that an agreement with the fire district would govern equipment ownership and insurance. After discussion, a commissioner moved to approve the conditional-use permit with the listed conditions; the motion passed.
The board’s approval imposes staff-recommended environmental safeguards intended to limit erosion, preserve wildlife habitat and avoid impacts to mapped wetlands. The county will require the applicant to provide the documentation specified in the conditions before commencing development.
