Gillette should take fiscally responsible approach to growth, consultants say

GILLETTE — As Gillette grows, elected officials need to be careful that they’re not setting up future generations for failure.

A.J. Fawver with Verdunity, which is conducting a master plan for the city, said that there’s this philosophy of growing a community and expanding the infrastructure “that we’ve all been taught is really good, until the bill comes due and then we have problems.”

What Gillette needs to avoid is expanding to the point where it becomes too expensive to maintain, she told the Gillette City Council and city planning commission last week.

Fawver and Katherine Linares, also with Verdunity, spent two days in Gillette talking with residents about the community.

“Sometimes there’s very fragmented feedback, but in Gillette, the feedback has been fairly unified,” Fawver said.

Fiscal responsibility is one thing that continually came up, she said, and residents also want to see the city improve its communication with the public. Other themes included economic diversification, housing affordability and availability and attracting and keeping workers in the community.

Since the late 1950s, Gillette’s footprint has grown 25 times larger, while its population has grown 16 times larger. This isn’t a unique situation, Fawver, said, as many communities across the country have grown in the same way.

When it comes to future growth, there are two approaches the city can take, Fawver said.

The first approach is for the city to continue developing as it has in the past, with commercial development in large, dedicated areas near major roads. In this case, housing development is primarily single-family homes, Fawver said, and the city’s fiscal state “is more fragile and fluctuating.”

Wyoming’s tax structure doesn’t do Gillette any favors, Fawver said, but the city has made it work.

“It’s out of your hands and you’re doing the best you can with that,” she said.

The second approach places more of a priority on fiscal sustainability, with commercial development happening more on a smaller scale at the neighborhood level. This allows for a wider variety of housing types, including duplexes and apartments, and in the long run is more stable from a fiscal standpoint.

Fawver said these two approaches are on the opposite ends of the spectrum and that the right answer “lies somewhere in the middle.”

Councilwoman Heidi Gross said community development is about much more than just “having someplace to say that’s where you live.”

“You want people to be involved and engaged in the community,” she said, adding that she wonders if the city council is getting enough community input on the decisions it makes.

City Administrator Mike Cole said there have been cases where a property owner’s proposed changes to the zoning in an area have upset the neighbors.

“How do you address those concerns while respecting the desire of the property owner to try something new?” Cole asked.

Councilman Jim West asked if the city is shooting itself in the foot by prioritizing one type of commercial development over another.

Fawver said the city’s control only goes so far, and that it has to be careful that it’s not “inadvertently discouraging” certain things based on the decisions it makes.

“One thing is for sure, if you don’t make for the possibility of certain things, you can be certain you won’t get those,” she said.

In July, the city council approved a $399,000 contract with Verdunity to conduct a comprehensive master plan. The project is expected to be completed in April 2025.

Verdunity will return to Gillette July 10 and 11. This time, the focus of the trip will be on future land use.

This story was published on April 16, 2024.