Zoning › State preemptions › Wyoming

Wyoming §18-5-501 — County-Primacy Siting Authority for Wind and Solar (WY)

Tracked preemption from the Wyoming overlay bundle.

Overview

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Effective
2010-03-09
Sunset
—
Authority
state
Scope
state:WY
Other Wyoming preemptions
Wyoming HB 2 / 2026 — Fast Track Permits Act (Residential Permit Shot-Clock)Wyoming Sage-Grouse Core Area Strategy (Executive Order)Wyoming §15-1-103(a)(xix) — Manufactured Housing Parity in Single-Family DistrictsWyoming §35-20 — Uniform Standards Code for Factory-Built Residential DwellingsWyoming Industrial Siting Act — State Review of Large Industrial ProjectsWyoming §18-5-301 — 35-Acre Subdivision ExemptionWyoming §18-5-201(a) — Agricultural Exemption from County ZoningWyoming Constitution Art. 13 §1 — First-Class City Home Rule (Limited)

Trigger predicate

When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.

AND
  • project.use_type ∈ {wind_energy_collector, solar_utility_scale}
  • parcel.unincorporated == True

Preempted fields

2 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.

FieldOpValueNote
siting_authorityoverridecounty_board_of_commissionersCounties (not a state siting authority) hold primary jurisdiction over wind and solar facility siting in unincorporated areas
base_districts[*].wind_solar_setback_standardspreserve—County boards may set minimum setbacks from occupied structures, property lines, and roads; decommissioning/reclamation bonds; noise, shadow-flicker, and visual standards; road-use agreements

Citation

Authority source
W.S. §18-5-501 through §18-5-507
§ §18-5-501 et seq. (County wind energy collector system siting; extended in practice to solar)
https://law.justia.com/codes/wyoming/title-18/chapter-5/

Research notes

Wyoming is unusual among Western states in placing primary wind/solar siting authority with counties rather than a state siting commission. 11 of 23 WY counties have adopted regulations beyond the statutory floor. Only projects exceeding §35-12-102 industrial-facility thresholds escalate to the Wyoming Industrial Siting Council (see separate overlay). Independent of WOGCC oil-and-gas preemption — county authority here is substantive, not preempted. Federal conflict check enabled because BLM right-of-way grants and NEPA review apply on federal land, and FAA Part 77 obstruction standards apply to wind turbine heights.