• Petitioners ask for moratorium.
The Lincoln County Commission will take up a discussion next week regarding a large storage unit complex that has been proposed in the Etna area. The 138,100 square foot facility, which would be the largest storage unit complex in the county, will be discussed during the regular Board of County Commissioners Meeting on Wednesday, November 13.
The proposal was first submitted to the Lincoln County Planning and Zoning Commission in September. Because there was not a full quorum present, the proposal was sent to the Commissioners without a recommendation given. The Commissioners then tabled the decision during their October 3 meeting, citing concerns over the size of the units and the need for further investigation and details.
A group of local citizens in the area have created an online petition opposing the storage unit, calling on the commissioners to impose a county-wide moratorium on storage units altogether. “The many detrimental effects of storage units on communities are well-known and documented,” states the petition, which is located at change.org under the name Support Lincoln County-wide Moratorium on Storage Units, Oppose Etna Mega Complex Facility. The petition continues by saying that storage units are “Devouring large tracts of undeveloped land, preventing building homes or small businesses, these cheap metal buildings erode the value of the properties around them.”
Lincoln County Commissioner Kent Connelly spoke to SVI News about the Etna storage unit proposal and the call for a moratorium. First, Connelly clarified that the Planning and Zoning Board does not pass or deny proposals, but only provides recommendations to the commissioners who have the final authority to pass or deny. According to Connelly, if a full quorum is not present at Planning and Zoning the proposal is sent to the County Commissioners without a recommendation, which is what occurred in this instance. According to Connelly, after the commission tabled the proposal in October, it went back to Planning and Zoning where it received a split 2-2 vote, resulting in a recommendation to deny. Something Connelly said will be taken into consideration by the county commissioners. Connelly also stated that the commission does have the authority to enact a moratorium on the building of storage units, but that it would have to be a county-wide moratorium and cannot be held to specific areas.
“Locking down the entire county would be very difficult to do,” stated Connelly. “We can do it, but we would need to decide if this is a county wide problem or just an issue for northern Star Valley. I will be interested to see where the signatures on the petition are coming from. If they are mostly from those living in the lower valley, or if there is more support for a moratorium through the entire county.”
The petition further states that the storage units would be located “less than a mile from the elementary school and would engulf the private residences of Steven’s Lane in an industrial complex, flooding their homes with light and noise pollution, exploding traffic on their private road, and destroying the safety and country feel of their homes.” The petition also makes claims that the developer has already moved ahead with the construction project despite not receiving final approval, something that Commissioner Connelly confirmed, stating that fines have been handed out by the State of Wyoming to the developer.
The Lincoln County Commission will discuss the proposal and petition for moratorium during the regularly scheduled Board of County Commissioners Meeting on Wednesday, November 13. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. and will be held in the Lincoln County Office Building in Kemmerer on Sage Ave. with a remote Zoom feed available in the Lincoln County Offices in Afton. The full agenda can be found at lincolncountywy.gov.
