Laramie County Tosses Controversial Permitting Perposal

Tuesday morning, a caller to Wyoming's morning radio talk show was upset about something the Laramie County Commission was trying to pass, regarding property rights.

As host of the show, I'm usually up on what's happening in the state, but this one was news to me.

The Laramie County Board of Commissioners was working on a list of new land use regulations.

Most of these regulations had to do with home business and included a $100 permit fee to register a home business that was meant to, among other things, cover the cost of inspections of any proposed home business.

On both Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon, the meeting room overflowed with residents objecting to the new rules.

Some of the objections took the country commissioners by surprise because, overall, they were deregulating and making the process simpler.

Nothing that the commission was trying to pass had to do with the Wyoming Food Freedom Act.

But some new rules were not liked by the people.

Finally, there was a unanimous vote to remove a proposed permitting requirement for home-based businesses that had folks so upset.

Still, there are objections to what was finally passed.

Many homeowners and home business owners don't want the county to be run like a homeowners' association.

On the more positive side, many old permitting regulations and fees were removed, making it easier and less expensive for small, home-based businesses to start up and operate in Laramie County.

Not all home businesses are run out of the living room, kitchen, or somebody's garage. Some are rather involved and can look a bit industrial. These rules address many of those larger home projects.