(Lander, WY) -The Lander City Council decided not to pass a proposed new zoning ordinance on third and final reading this week, meaning the changes will not take effect.
Four council members voted against the ordinance during a regular meeting Tuesday, including Councilmember John Larsen, who called it “the toughest decision that I’ve made in a long, long time.”
“I’m voting no, and it’s going 100 percent against everything that I feel and everything that I’ve researched and the good that I think this will do,” Larsen said. “But talking with the people in Ward 1, they don’t want this. So there we are.”
Councilmember Melinda Cox said the decision to vote “no” was “difficult” for her, too, because “I know that (a) lack of housing has impacted our community negatively.”
She didn’t think the proposed new zoning ordinance would increase the amount of attainable housing units available in Lander, however.
She also noted that, because of the current “high cost” of local housing, “when our constituents are affected by zoning, they are not able to move.”
“(That was) the problem that I had that I couldn’t resolve,” Cox said.
Councilmember Dan Hahn, who also voted against the proposal, said the city’s current zoning ordinance “is working just fine for Lander,” and the proposed changes were “too extreme.”
“You may put people in some units, but I think the impact on the citizens of Lander (is) going to be greater than your goal of trying to put somebody in some kind of living space,” he said. “These zoning changes are not what Lander needs. … What Lander needs is a mayor and a council that listens to the majority – not the few – and does the right thing.”
Councilmember Josh Hahn voted “no,” too, suggested the city “get a handle on the issues we have currently” before making the kinds of changes envisioned in the proposed new zoning ordinance.
“The infrastructure in this town isn’t prepared for what you’re wanting to do,” he said, pointing to streets that are “in disrepair” and a water and sewer system that isn’t “top notch.”
“I just don’t think now is the time. I think it would create a lot more problems for the city itself than what it’s worth. (Let’s) step back instead of rushing into stuff, take our time, and fix the things that need worked on so the city can support a higher population.”
Councilmember Julia Stuble voted in favor of the proposed zoning changes this week, explaining that “there are so few things the city can actually have control over (with) housing issues,” and “this is one of them.”
“I just feel committed to taking a bite at an apple – even if it’s only one small bite, and it’s not the only bite we’re going to need to take,” she said. “We’re making incremental progress towards our goal of increasing the variety of housing options and housing supply in Lander.”
Councilmember Missy White, who also voted in favor of the proposed ordinance, agreed that the changes wouldn’t “move the needle a whole lot” when it comes to “housing availability,” but “if this can move the needle a little bit,” she said, “I believe it’s an important thing to do.”
Retraction
After the council voted against the ordinance, City Clerk Rachelle Fontaine noted that she had already submitted a notice to the local newspaper indicating that the measure had passed on third reading.
She said she would send in a retraction “immediately.”
For more information, call the City of Lander at (307) 332-2870.