With the Sublette
County Planning and Zoning Board’s
approval, the draft “nuisance regulations”
resolution will come before commissioners
at their Aug. 20 meeting for a vote.
The draft regulation was the subject of
a May 9 public workshop where residents
asked many questions about enforcement,
privacy and value judgments about what
different people might judge suitable and
“reasonable” for stored property. The workshop
was scheduled after a record number
of residents turned out at an earlier board
meeting to complain about proposed regulations.
Sublette County Planner Dennis Fornstrom
initially appeared before county
commissioners asking for the resolution’s
approval at the Aug. 6 meeting. He assured
commissioners the workshop reviewed the
regulations point for point and concerns
were addressed, including eliminating restrictions
on the number of inoperative vehicles.
The regulation was also reviewed again
by the Planning and Zoning Board and approved,
3-0.
Despite those assurances, commissioners
stopped short of approving the regulations
and asked the item to be tabled until
the Aug. 20 meeting to give them more time
and the public an additional opportunity to
comment.
Commissioner Joel Bousman said he
felt the regulations would be a “nightmare”
to administer and enforce. He added many
of the proposed regulations are subjective
and could be used as weapons by feuding
neighbors.
The new draft ordinance states, “The
purpose of this resolution is to protect and
provide for the highest level of health,
safety and welfare for Sublette County
citizens and to promote and encourage
maintenance of properties within Sublette
County.”
It designates the Sublette County Planning
and Zoning Administrator and/or the
Sublette County Public Health Officer to
investigate and determine the existence of
a nuisance.
Fornstrom said they hoped to shorten
and clarify the draft nuisance regulations,
which they said are required by state law,
and they did. The new three-page document
defines “’Nuisance’ means any use or
nonuse of property, real or personal, which
poses a threat to the life, safety or welfare
of the citizens of Sublette County.”
Defined “nuisances” include lack of
screening – solid fences, walls, berms,
hedges or “other approved features.” A prohibition
against using “salvaged” materials
was removed
“Accumulation” is another nuisance
to be regulated – “the unreasonable and
dangerous massing or storing of material,
debris, matter or waste in a manner that exceeds
quantities that would commonly be
considered reasonable or are significantly
inconsistent with surrounding properties
and like uses that adversely impacts neighboring
properties.”
Nuisances can be determined as “unreasonable
and dangerous accumulation of
animal manure, and/or waste products that
allow for breeding and propagation of insects,
rodents, or attracts vermin.”
Runoff of surface water from areas of accumulated
animal manure or waste products
that adversely affects adjacent or nearby
properties is also a nuisance. Wording also
prohibits runoff “containing or discharging
water that contains pollutants that adversely
affects neighboring properties.”
Unreasonable, prolonged and/or dangerous
destabilizing of the ground surface
to cause unsafe conditions, dust or other
airborne matter that is offensive or dangerous
to the public’s health or safety and
adversely affects neighboring properties is
also prohibited.
Discharge from a septic system or sewage
onto the ground or into waterways is
considered a nuisance.
Accumulating debris, garbage, waste
recyclables, scrap or other junk material
including combustible materials such
as paper litter, cardboard or paper, piles
of weeds or shrubbery trimmings, wood,
straw, hay or grass, which could create a
potential fire hazard or allows insect or rodent
propagation is banned.
The proposed regulation allows for exceptions
including farm and ranch operations
pursuant to the Wyoming Right to
Farm and Ranch Act. Other exceptions
include buildings that have historical, ancestral,
or cultural value to the landowner;
properly stored firewood; compost piles
and antique implements that are used for
decoration or landscaping.
Fornstrom said his office would enforce
the regulations and appeals will still go to
commissioners for final settlement.
To read the final version, A Resolution
Adopting Nuisance Regulations, go to the
Sublette County home page at http://www.
sublettewyo.com/ and click on “Proposed
Nuisance” at the bottom.