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Deputy County Attorney Jim Davis said the proposed changes have been in the works for a long time and were not in response to any single issue.
"It's a process that we started some years ago, but it got slowed down when we lost our planning coordinator for a while," he said.
Proposed changes to the county's subdivision regulations would follow a more traditional process used elsewhere, Davis said, including the addition of a preliminary sketch plan.
Davis said a minor subdivision category would be created to address development between the current categories of simple and major subdivisions.
The new minor subdivision category would apply to properties planned for three to five homes, which now must undergo a major subdivision review process.
Assistant Planner Nikki Burnett said the Planning and Zoning Commission still had the ability to submit minor subdivisions to the same level of review as a major subdivision if commissioners believed there was a need.
That would include requiring a review of the project's water and sewer system by the state Department of Environmental Quality, she said.
Another proposed change would require more detailed information about small wastewater disposal in simple and minor subdivisions, she said.
Burnett said all subdivisions would be subject to at least one public hearing; under current regulations, simple subdivisions may be exempt.
Also required of all subdivisions would be a detailed water rights distribution plan that must be registered with the State Engineer's Office, she said.
Deciding how water rights would be divided, even in smaller subdivisions, is "something the planning and zoning commissioners have spent a lot of time on in their meetings," Burnett said.
Requiring detailed plans at the time of an application would allow for more efficient public review and comment, and streamline the review process during meetings, she said.
Another proposed change would create a grizzly bear overlay district in parts of Meeteetse, Clark and the North Fork and South Fork valleys.
Developed in cooperation with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the rules would apply to new development in areas where bear-human conflicts have been the most common.
They would require bear-proof garbage containers, prohibit planting fruit trees or feeding wild animals and mandate careful storage of bear attractants like pet food and salt.
Other proposed changes include special provisions regarding wind turbines and junk and trash piles.
Public comments on the proposed regulations will be accepted through Sept. 30, with a public hearing to be scheduled in October, Burnett said.
Copies of the proposed regulations are available at county libraries, in the planning office and on the county's Web site.
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