Casper City Council Sets Public Hearing Date For State Office Campus Zoning
The proposed state office building campus moved a bit further toward breaking ground Tuesday when Casper City Council set the date for public hearing about zoning the property just west of downtown.
Mayor Ray Pacheco said after the council meeting that he hopes the campus' design will align with the city's larger vision of what downtown will look like.
"I think they will be questions we'll be working on, absolutely," he said.
Council set Nov. 6 as the public hearing date for the annexation and plat of the office building campus.
The $40 million, 11-acre office campus would occupy most of the block bounded by West Collins Avenue on the south, West Midwest Avenue on the north, and portions of South Ash Street on the east and South Walnut Street on the west, according to the map in the agenda for Tuesday's meeting.
The campus would consolidate state offices in buildings throughout Casper.
Some of the parcels on the map are developed, some are unplatted, some are not annexed by the city, and some are vacant. The consolidation of lots would create the State Office Building Addition.
The city's planning and zoning commission unanimously supported the annexation, platting, replatting and zoning after a public hearing at its Sept. 20 meeting.
The state agency overseeing the project intends to demolish the remaining structures this fall.
That agency is drafting a site plan, which will be reviewed and approved by the Old Yellowstone District Architectural Review Committee. The site plan is intended to be consistent with the zoning of neighboring properties and the Old Yellowswtone District Redevelopment Plan and the Generation Casper Comprehensive Land Use Plan.
"I would hope there's also going to be some type of collaboration between the city and the state on how we work together in those areas," Pacheco said. "There's always the possibility that the city would have some type of involvement in that."
Besides the hearing for the office campus zoning, the council will hold public hearings on Nov. 6 about updating the regulations for panhandling and possessing motor vehicle operators licenses.
The proposed updated panhandling regulation "would articulate and recognize the right to beg, solicit and panhandle, but place reasonable and limited restrictions on offensive, invasive, threatening and dangerous conduct."
The proposed updated ordinance about possessing a motor vehicle operator's license would conform with Wyoming law "that if a driver is stopped and did not have the license within the vehicle, that upon proving that the driver was, in fact, licensed, there can be no conviction."