Sid Fox, AICP is the Planning Director for Carbon County in Wyoming. He started with Carbon County in the spring of 2010. The planning staff of three serves as the administrative support for the County Planning & Zoning Commission. Their main role is to implement the County Comprehensive Plan through administration of zoning and subdivision regulations.

For city and county planners it is important to consider appropriate locations for the placement of EV charging stations. For most, this task probably means looking at land-use classifications and making zoning interpretations. This article was originally published in the North Dakota Planning Association newsletter. by Will Hutchings, City of Bismarck, North Dakota

Daniel S. Pava, FAICP, gives the rundown on what contemporary voices from the Rocky Mountain West had to say at the 28th Annual Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute.

Several North Dakota city planners discuss their zoning process for medical marijuana facilities. On April 18, 2017, a new North Dakota law became effective allowing for the production and processing, sale and dispensing of usable marijuana, and medical use of marijuana.

How can states like Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico and others compete against their larger and more metropolitan neighbors in workforce attraction and retention? And then it hit me - baseball. by Aric A. Jensen, AICP

The 2019 Alaska Chapter of the American Planning Association State Planning Conference was a huge success. The following awards were presented and celebrated: Comprehensive Plan Award - Sitka 2030 Comprehensive Plan; Award for Planning Leadership - Planning Advocate of the Year—Sara Jansen; Award for Planning Team - Municipality of Anchorage Long-Range Planning Division; and Award for a Leader, Planner of the Year - John Czarnezki, Director of Economic Development and Planning for the City of Soldotna, AK. by Jon Cecil, AICP, Anchorage, AK

The Western Governors’ Association is launching an initiative in July 2019 to examine the challenges facing rural western communities and identify strategies to improve economic development opportunities, infrastructure, and quality of life in the rural West. WGA invites you to share your perspective to help shape the initiative.

The article is about the City of Phoenix, citizen groups, and the light rail expansion into South Phoenix where the design desires of citizens differ from project-funded design. On September 26, 2018, the Phoenix City Council voted to continue to move forward with the current two-lane design for the South Central Light Rail Extension. The vote followed a previous council decision, which requested Valley Metro look into a four-lane design and conduct extensive community outreach. by Joshua Matthews, AICP

Western wildfires in recent years demonstrate the urgency in which we need to adapt to fire in order to be more resilient in the communities we call home. This article describes what may be called the modern wildfire situation with some of the forces driving wildfire conditions today, resources, and a community example planners can use to participate in wildfire adaptation in their communities. by Christopher Jones, Globe, Arizona

Welcome to 2019! I begin the year as the not so new president of Western Planning Resources, the publisher of Western Planner, having served in this capacity several years ago. Many thanks to Angela Parker, our outgoing president, who has relocated from Alaska to Wyoming and remains on the board.

As part of Western Planner’s mission to be a resource for planners in the West, we are pleased to offer all WP articles published since 1980 FOR FREE. That is over 2,223 articles covering 37 years of planning issues in the West!