Clark residents prove power of participation
Through our own reporting and via Clark resident Bob Rodriguez we’ve tried over the years to provide coverage of the area in the Powell Tribune, from fires and controversies to summer festivals and shows.
For a rural community where many residents have dozens of acres between them and their neighbors, it’s nonetheless an example of a tight knit community. That’s been on display through the recent process to pass first a new county land use plan and now new regulations to go along with it.
Being a rural area, all of Clark is impacted by the regulations (unlike those in Powell and Cody city limits). Probably unsurprisingly, then, many residents have participated in the various public input sessions along the way.
Clarkites are rightly proud of their community and, if the latest efforts are any indication, they love the area so much they want to make sure it stays that way.
Nearly 75 residents took part June 21 — Father’s Day — in a spontaneous community event that began as a Facebook thread to go through the latest draft regulations and zoning map to express their desire to, basically, keep Clark the way it is. That means not allowing small lot subdivisions by keeping zones to a minimum of 20 acres, and limiting commercial areas.
As Clark resident Allie Hall said, “I'm so proud of my neighbors for rallying around an issue that matters to us, especially with such short notice and on a holiday.”
What has been nice to see is that mass feedback has been effective.
On June 23, Park County commissioners, planning and zoning members and planning department staff gathered to hash out what changes needed to be made on the latest draft regulations. They started, not with tackling areas around the big cities or areas with the least issues, but with Clark, as a nod to the input received and the fact that a couple of Clark residents had even shown up.
And in the end, after roughly an hour of discussion, those residents’ demands were largely met. Some of the planned commercial areas were cut out unless landowners had objections, and standard zoning areas were set to General Rural 20 Acre or GR35 — which still allows a variety of uses on the property and allows for subdivisions of lots smaller than 20 or 35 acres via lot size averaging if the property is large enough to make that work.
In other words, Clark residents asked, and county officials largely delivered.
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