Even though Wyoming locals lost a lawsuit to stop an
18-hole golf course and 600 homes near the town of Big Horn, they
took revenge: They ousted one of the county commissioners who had
allowed the new development.
The Wyoming Supreme
Court ruling concerned the Powderhorn, a golf course resort that
will be built outside Big Horn by developer Homer Scott, Jr. The
land was originally zoned rural-residential, which would have
allowed Scott to build 300 homes on 606 acres. But the developer
persuaded Sheridan County commissioners to reclassify the resort as
a Planned Unit Development (PUD), allowing Scott to build 600 homes
(HCN, 4/25/96).
Dismayed residents formed the
Sheridan Planning Association and sued. They argued that any PUD in
Sheridan County must be consistent with the comprehensive plan,
which designates the Powderhorn area as “low-density.” The court
disagreed.
That left angry residents with one
recourse: the ballot box. Last Nov. 5, residents voted out the
resort’s supporter, Eunice McEwan, in favor of Charles Whiton, a
long-time Big Horn resident and opponent of the planned resort.
Whiton said: “The county was not being well-managed, and that
includes zoning.”
* Sam
Western
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Planning begins at the ballot box.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
