Ask the City: Wyo-Tech Campus and Definition of ‘Homeowner’

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Ask the City Of Laramie: questions and answers from the City's blog.

Question:  "4 or 5 years ago the City purchased the Wyo -Tech North campus. We were told that the City vehicle maintenance among other things would be moved there and that is was already built so the total cost was going to be less than building a new facility. To date the property has remained mostly vacant. Now I see one of the buildings is being torn down and hauled to the dump. What happened? How did we go from already built to tearing it down? How is this saving taxpayers money? If a mistake was made in the original planning and purchase has this person or persons been fired? This appears to be another waste of taxpayer money."

ANSWER: "Three buildings will be demolished on the site. Two are small and old and the City has no use for them and demolishing them was necessary to provide safe traffic flow throughout the site. The third building being demolished is large and required a massive amount of refurbishing and upgrading to bring it up to modern standards, which was known at the time of purchase. However, once estimates were acquired, the renovations proved to be too costly and it was determined a new building would cost approximately the same amount to build. In addition, the City will realize lower ongoing operating costs with a new building due to less maintenance and lower utility bills due to energy saving features, including new windows, doors, insulation and HVAC systems. Much of the materials from the demolished buildings will be recycled or reused with very little being sent to the landfill. There are two large buildings on the North and South side of the site that will remain and will be used for City operations."

Question: "In Chapter 15.2.4: Buildings and Construction, what is the definition used for "Homeowner" and "personal residence" in section 15.24.020.B 1.b(i)? Under the current definition, could claim this exception if I purchased a second home in Laramie for my personal use?"

Answer: "No the exemption does not apply to a second home. Chapter 15.2.4:  “homeowner”,  “personal residence”, is better clarified as “primary residence” (owner of the residence and occupies (lives in) residence). The individual or the entity is the owner of the property and it is their primary (personal) residence that they occupy (does not include second homes, rentals, mother-in-law houses or other similar accessory residential units). If the person living there is not the owner of the property (homeowner) and it is not their primary, personal residence they do not meet the exclusion."

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Ask the City Of Laramie is your chance to send the city that burning question that you have always wondered about such as: “Where can I get a city parking permit?” or “Why did my water usage rates go through the roof?”

Please note that the City of Laramie will answer as many questions as possible at their discretion.