The Natrona County Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday rejected a proposal that would have disallowed mining on much of the face of Casper Mountain.
Currently, mining is allowed on land zoned mountain residential under a conditional use permit. Gregg Wergerâs request would have removed that possibility.
About 15 people spoke in favor of the request, but the board ultimately voted 4-1 against it. The Planning and Zoning Commission passes its recommendation to the Natrona County Board of Commissioners.
Werger told the board the conditional use wasnât in previous iterations of the zoning resolution but managed to show up in the one adopted in 2022.
âMysteriously, that âCâ was put in there,â Werger said referring to how the conditional use is noted in a table in the zoning regulations. âI believe that was put in there and no one even noticed it.â
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He said people werenât given a chance to object to the change, either.
Ross Ridge Road resident Jason Knopp backed the proposed change.
âThereâs currently 220 wells that are directly underneath this MR-1 zoned residential living area,â Knopp said. âIf you were to allow mining along the face of this mountain, thatâs 240 people that rely on the water … It doesnât go around, it doesnât come up from the ground, it comes from the top of the mountain.â
âI think itâs pretty clear why weâre all opposed. To remove the C from this. Itâs itâs a water issue. In my case it would be a dust issue,â Kelly Walsh told the board. âI have family that lives on the Wolf Creek and theyâre opposed to it. Iâm opposed to [mining].â
âI donât understand why the mining company thinks itâs all right to build a lake up there to get to catch all this water that everybody else in this room is dependent upon,â Walsh said. âWe donât need a lake up there. We donât need a fishing hole up there. What we need is to protect the streams and the water that comes off of the Casper Mountainâ
William Shughart said Coates Road canât support trucks that would be associated with mining.
âThis was not paved with cement underneath it,â Shughart said. It was not paved four inches thick. You take the big trucks, if theyâre going to run up and down the road, itâll be destroyed within a very short period of time. It was built for residential, not mining.â
Greg Vineyard, who lives on Coates Road, said he built his home in 1975.
â Took me two years to develop enough water to sufficiently provide for our home. Itâs fragile. Terribly fragile,â Vineyard said. âAnd we are grateful for the water thatâs provided for us. Itâs just a shame that our the water resource can be threatened in this day and age.â
Prism Logistics CEO Kyle True, whose company seeks to create a gravel mine on a section of School Trust land on Coates Road, told the board that there are several reasons to not change the current zoning. He said the measure could be considered a âtakingâ as those who want to develop extractive industries on their land would be prohibited from doing so.
âThere are well over a dozen, maybe 15 ranches in this area,â True said. âIâve spoken to four private property owners who would like our company, Prism Logistics, to come and develop their gravel resource. When we can, there is an interest of people in doing so.â
True said thereâs already plenty of regulation, including the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, to oversee the permitting process.
True said quality gravel isnât something thatâs easily found elsewhere.
âIâve looked all over this county. Itâs a challenge to find gravel suitable for the countyâs needs. In our county, I can find you sand easily. I can find you clay very, very easily. I could find dirt, I could find shale. But this, the foothills of Casper Mountain, which are MR1, are the remaining resource in our county of significant aggregate. So if we make this off limits, then weâll be bringing things in from Douglas, from, from much further away and thatâs just going to raise all of our costs.â
Interim County Planner Shawn Gustafson said the staff recommended denying the amendment.
Gustafson said extractive industries are not permitted by right in any zoning district within the county.
The âprocess allows a variety of beneficial factors to be addressed on a case-by-case basis while considering potential deterrents and negative consequences,â the staff report stated.
Board member Sabrina Kemper, in attendance via phone, asked who has the authority to propose an amendment to a zoning resolution.
Deputy county attorney Jared Holbrook said such requests can come from county commissioners, the planning and zoning commission, planning staff or any resident.
Board members Chad McNutt, Ray Schulte, Kemper and chairman Hal Hutchinson voted to keep with the staff recommendation, and agreed that the existing process allows flexibility without sacrificing private property rights.
The lone dissenter was Robert Grant, who said the conditional use didnât belong in the zoning resolution.
In other business, the planning and zoning board:
- Approved a request by Patrick Klein for a zone change from Light Industrial to Urban Mixed Residential. The property is located at 3335 Plateau Street in the Northridge Subdivision, lots 33 & 35.
- Approved a request by Erick and Jessica Heide for a zone change from urban agriculture to Suburban Residential 1. The property is located at 1390 Bryan Stock Trail in the Durnell Family Exemption Subdivision, lot two.
- Approved variance requests by Harmoni Towers for setback requirements on two Verizon cell towers that require a setback of twice the height of the towers. One 220-foot tower will be located on the west side of I-25 at the intersection with Highway 387. The other 199-foot tower will be located southeast of Highway 220 in the Bessemer Bend area.
Existing zoning regulations allow for such variances, âif a Wyoming Licensed Engineer has designed the tower with âbreak point technology.ââ