What could have been a contentious public hearing regarding a request to build a temporary man camp in Moffat County ended with little fanfare as county officials revealed the applicant has pulled the request.

On Sept. 10, county staff told Moffat County Commissioners the applicant has rescinded the request for a temporary-use permit to construct four five-bedroom units and accompanying accessory buildings to house mine workers at 3037 E. Victory Way through 2028.

Per the request, the housing units would have been used to lodge only workers from the Twentymile Mine between Hayden and Oak Creek. Additionally, the applicant had expressed a desire to move an existing man camp in Routt County to the proposed site in Moffat County, which would have increased the number of requested temporary housing units from four to 20.

The proposal had caught the attention of some of the landowner’s neighbors who expressed concerns over increased traffic, reduced property values, environmental impacts and more. However, with the applicant jettisoning the request, many of those issues appear to be moot for now.

The requested permit appeared on Moffat County Commissioners’ agenda in August. However, citing unanswered questions, commissioners took no action at the time and instead decided to continue the discussion until Sept. 10.

On Sept. 10, Moffat County Commissioners noted that even though the request was no longer up for consideration, the county should revisit its planning process to make sure its policies are up to date and align with current uses.

Framing the issue, Moffat County Commissioner Tony Bohrer described it as “a gray and sticky area” when it comes to telling one landowner what they can or cannot do with their property while balancing that with the impact it could have on other property owners.

“Nobody who has acreage wants the commissioners to tell you what you can and can’t do with your property … but at the same time, making that statement, when do your landowner rights trump my landowner rights?” Bohrer said.

In closing, he made at least one promise to the folks who attended the Sept. 10 public hearing.

“If this does come back, you will get notification,” Bohrer told the audience. “There will be a public hearing again. Nothing is going to get slipped on by. Everything is going to be done by the book. If it does come back at a later date — and we don’t know that it will for sure on that chunk of property; it might come somewhere else, we don’t know that — but if it does, you will get all the notifications. You will get everything you need to make sure you guys can come back and have your voices heard.”