Town again ponders freeway development

The Town of Glenrock and McMurry Construction plan to meet with parties holding leases on the land along Deer Creek Road, between I-25 and Glenrock as the town, once again, weighs the controversial notion of developing that area.

“There’s a lot of unknowns. There’s a lot of feelings on both sides (of the issue),” Glenrock Mayor Steve Cielinski explained. “If we ever do grow as a town that’s the only logical direction that we would.”

The Town of Glenrock nominated the state owned land for sale on behalf of interested developers last year and the meeting, scheduled for Feb. 16, follows in the wake of  even more new interest in the area. The town also recently completed a study assessing the feasibility of developing the land and a Jan. 25 workshop held to bring Glenrock Town Council members “up to speed” on the issue. Three interested developers (including McMurry) approached the town last year, according to Cielinski and Glenrock Town Planner Kathy Patceg.

“What we did was approach the state and nominated that piece of land to see if the state would be willing to sell that,” Cielinski said. “It’s getting closer to the point where the state is going to deal with this issue.”

Now, the possibility of a land sale seems to have again put some lessees in the area on edge.

“In the grand scheme of things we’re not like the VR Ranch and everybody else who has hundreds of cows, but that makes a big difference to us,” said Holly Davies, whose family, for 20 years, has run cows on some of the property nominated for sale. 

Several local ranchers have agricultural leases on the land, according to both Davies and Ceilinski and Davies said she has spoken with a number of residents who share her concerns.

“Everybody’s saying the same thing when is this going to stop when is the city going to stop trying to be like Casper, or New York, or whatever?” Davies continued.

Should the state sell the land, it will be awarded to the developer with the highest offer in an open bid, assuming that high offer equals or exceeds the appraised value of the property.

Cielinski estimated that preparing the area for bid will require $8,000 to $12,000. He hopes a potential buyer will, eventually, cover most of that cost.  Glenrock’s Town Council will have to approve any additional costs incurred by the town.

The town of Glenrock annexed most of the land in question several years ago, after a period of heated debate.

“We spent years and years of time money and effort in cleaning up both the other entrances to town,” Cielinski remembered the episode. “It made sense, before anything came in that would be a detriment to the town, to annex it that way, so that the town could have a say in what could go into that property.”

The town has since zoned the ground in question for commercial, highway business use. This classification would allow for the construction of most retail or light manufacturing facilities and “strictly” bar any heavy industrial project, according to Cielinski.

“Certainly, with the several hundred people a day right now commuting between Casper and Glenrock it’s a pretty easy case to make that we’re short on motels,” Cielinski said, before adding that most hotel chains require highway visibility.

Cielinski noted that the area’s existing infrastructure would require significant upgrades before development, as well. A water main connects the property to town the town’s system, but no sewer facilities currently exist in the vicinity. 

“We at least have to look at future growth,” Cielinski said. “This is a time where council says, truly, as a town, as a community, we’re going to stop here, stop where we’re at, or we’re going to plan for the future. There’s really not much property in downtown that can be expanded upon.”

This is part of the February 11, 2010 online edition of The Glenrock Independent.

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