Just (not) passing through... (Casper, Laramie: houses, live, zoning)

[Groundspeed]

Hoping to make the recently purchased 71 acres, 20 miles NE of Medicine Bow my home during the hell-atious months of summer in lower Arizona. Love the simplicity and beauty of the land. The folks seem honest and uncomplicated, which all works for me.
Any "pearls of wisdom" for a new guy in those parts, or thereof? Getting in and getting out should be fine...Have a 4X4 HD Silverado towing in a Coleman E-3. If everything works out this summer, I'll bring the bride for the next one. Also, gonna be in the scrub a bit- Where is the closest medical facility if I run into a contentious rattler?
Groundspeed-

[Froggie Legs]

Checked the city-data page on Medicine Bow http://www.city-data.com/city/Medicine-Bow-Wyoming.html :

Hospitals/medical centers near Medicine Bow:

• IVINSON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL (about 43 miles; LARAMIE, WY)
• WYOMING BEHAVIORAL INSTITUTE (about 66 miles; CASPER, WY)
• WYOMING MEDICAL CENTER (about 69 miles; CASPER, WY)

Is there water on your land or are you having it hauled in? What kind of house are you building? or are you bringing in a prefab? Good luck with your move! Post some pictures when you get the chance.

[sunsprit]

Huh ... my map reads a little different. It's about 56 miles from Medicine Bow to Laramie, and that's to city limits, add a few more miles to the Ivinson Hospital in town.

With the 20 miles to Medicine Bow from your property, that's about 80 miles. More importantly, in a medical emergency, it's not the distance, it's the time to facilities that will count. I haven't seen your access road, but I can see it taking well over an hour to get to help.

Do you have access to water on your property?

I wouldn't be out and about on land there without a shotgun readily at hand. I've equipped all my 6x6's with a sturdy stainless steel over-under survival rifle, so have a .410 shotgun and a .22 hornet rifle with me at all times. Pretty handy, have used it numerous times through the years in open country around here on predators, varmints, and rattlers. Just last week on a very large and otherwise well-fed rattler ....

Siting your trailer ... it's better to take advantage of any natural terrain features that might block the wind than an exposed site with a view. Also, consider that when t-storms come through, they can be real gully-washers and turn dirt roads into very slick clay for awhile.

[Groundspeed]

Thanks guys- The closest access road to my property is Marshall County, about 1/2 mile from my tract, up 20 miles from Medicine Bow. I'm just over the Albany County line. My original intentions where to have someone from Laramie come in and get a septic in and a (seasonal)garage type structure built by some of my friends in Arizona. Bidding-out the septic is giving me brain-farts, so I suppose I'll wait that one out.
I'll be bringing water in until I fence around my spring to keep-out any random cattle and from having them drink it dry. As far as the rattlers go, I don't wander in the area after dark, where snake chaps and as a former combat Marine, I can shoot like the dickens!
Groundspeed-

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by Groundspeed

Thanks guys- The closest access road to my property is Marshall County, about 1/2 mile from my tract, up 20 miles from Medicine Bow. I'm just over the Albany County line. My original intentions where to have someone from Laramie come in and get a septic in and a (seasonal)garage type structure built by some of my friends in Arizona. Bidding-out the septic is giving me brain-farts, so I suppose I'll wait that one out.
I'll be bringing water in until I fence around my spring to keep-out any random cattle and from having them drink it dry. As far as the rattlers go, I don't wander in the area after dark, where snake chaps and as a former combat Marine, I can shoot like the dickens!
Groundspeed-

Keep in mind that you have no rights to any use of the water from your "spring" unless they are permitted by the Wy State Engineer. This includes domestic use, or any other beneficial use that you may have in mind. Make no assumptions that because surface water is present on your land that you have any rights to use it for your domestic use.

Without starting a whole new thread on domestic water use in Wyoming, please understand that water rights here are totally different than any other place you've been. For example, you may find that the surface water rights of that spring on your land were only for "livestock watering". To develop some means of diversion and delivery to your house would not be a legal use, even though it might seem "logical" to you.

My best advice to you is to contact the Wyoming State Engineer's office and have your property's legal description in hand, and an accurate location of the "spring" on your property. Find out what legal rights you have to that water, if any, and then ... if you don't have a "domestic use" right ... what the process would be to obtain such a right.

You may also find that the whole water right and septic system approval will be intertwined between the county authorities for the septic system and the state engineer for the water. You must have the septic system permit before excavation for the septic system begins ... no legitimate installer would risk his livlihood to do so until that permit is obtained.

FWIW, I'd get clarification and approvals of these issues before spending any money on this property for "improvements". If, for example, you cannot obtain rights to the surface water from the spring, then you'd be looking at a domestic well permit. That opens up a whole new avenue of concern as to the well costs and functional availability of water on your land.

While I'm not familiar with Albany county's zoning process these days ... do be sure that you can build your structure to your requirements and intended purpose within their codes. For example, we have seen the last of the days here in Laramie county where someone would put up a "pole barn" with the real intent of using it for a domestic residence shelter ... which has to be built to a whole different standard than a structure intended for livestock or storage. (this includes using the structure for a residence by parking an RV inside it ... it's now a "residence", not a "storage" unit). I've even had the county looking at my greenhouses, which get by now as "temporary" structures exempt from code enforcement because I don't have power supplied to them or a concrete floor. But if I were to add either of those items, the county would be requiring much more structure in those greenhouses to make them "safe" for use.

[Groundspeed]

Sunsprit- Thanks for your sharing...In terms of the "broad strokes", I have a relative understanding of free range and water rights, insofar as my area, and Wyoming in general. Based on the remoteness and isolation of my tract, I don't want to take notions of "improvement" too serious. I only paid a little over $600. an acre for my 71 acres. If I (in the short term) get a nice summer reprieve from the oppressive 110s to 114s down south, I will have made a fair decision. You sure won't find Boomslang in Wyoming any time other then summer, and then only for a short spell.