JACKSON, Wyo. — The Teton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) on Tuesday reaffirmed a decision to declare a 90-day freeze on man-made ponds within the county limits.
At its Tuesday voucher meeting, the BCC revisited the topic after voting on it last week at a special meeting. Ahead of last Thursday’s special meeting, the agenda listed the pond moratorium under “discussion items” with no public comment taken. The BCC did, however, take public comment and vote on the motion then. Due to this “glitch,” Chief Deputy County Attorney Keith Gingery brought the resolution back in front of the Board, which allowed for more public comment and discussion. Ultimately the BCC voted unanimously to implement the 90-day freeze on permits.
BCC Chair Mark Newcomb told Buckrail that the resolution on man-made ponds grew from a discussion at a recent water quality and land development regulation (LDR) workshop. Three tiers of items were presented at the workshop: a top tier including items that staff recommends addressing right away; a mid-tier of items that staff wants to move forward and continue working on; and a third tier of long-term items that will require more research or aren’t specifically related to LDRs.
“The mid-tier included manmade water bodies — ponds,” Newcomb said. “And it suggested that they be addressed. And it sounded like, from the staff perspective, that they’re complicated, that a properly designed pond can actually function as viable habitat, but it needs to be well designed, it needs to be in the right location, and that was going to take a lot of thought.”
The BCC recognized the need for public comment from stakeholders, which is why the measure came back to the Board on Tuesday. The moratorium is designed to give staff and planning managers time to better define what kind of pond is beneficial to the environment, as well as to determine the timeframe needed to craft new LDRs.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Kevin Burke with CLB Architects gave public comment requesting a grace period for projects that have already been in the planning and design phase. Case Brown with Clearwater Restoration, a pond construction business, said that he hopes the moratorium will allow time to put together a full picture of regulations, data and public input. Brown also stated that ponds built after 2017, when LDR provisions were updated, are typically in better health than those constructed before. But he added that there is room for improvement, instead of prohibiting new ponds.
Phil Powers with Protect Our Water Jackson Hole and Amy Kuzak with the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance both gave public comment in support of the BCC’s efforts to scrutinize water quality and pond LDRs.
