City of Sheridan Study Session: De-annexation, Subdivisions, and Court Judge Appointment – August 24, 2026
City of Sheridan Study Session: De-annexation, Subdivisions, and Court Judge Appointment – August 24, 2026
On August 24, 2026, at 5:30 PM, the City of Sheridan held a study session to discuss five agenda items: a de-annexation petition, two subdivision proposals, the appointment of a new municipal court judge, and general future agenda items. The meeting lasted until 6:00 PM.
De-annexation Discussion (Ordinance 2306-26)
- City Planner Kelly Schroeder presented a petition to de-annex 1.5 acres at 4672 Coffee Avenue, annexed in 2022 and zoned R3 residential. State statute requires a de-annexation report, which the Board of County Commissioners approved on August 19, 2026. The report noted minimal fiscal or service impacts; law enforcement would shift to the sheriff, emergency response to the rural fire district, and property taxes would drop from 23 to 18 mills. The property lies within the urban service area and joint planning area, requiring city standards if subdivided.
- Staff recommended denial of the petition, citing the property's location in a logical growth area and the lack of an accurate record of survey. If approved, staff requested a condition for a proper survey.
- Councilmember Randall opposed the de-annexation, stating it contradicts the city's goals of cohesive growth. Previous issues with access (limited to 10 dwelling units via US 87) and drainage concerns were noted. No public comments opposing the de-annexation were received, though several property owners called to inquire.
Story House Minor Subdivision Discussion (PL 26-22, Resolution 16-26)
- Kelly Schroeder presented a proposal to subdivide 130.69 acres of unplatted land at 2300 Story House Lane (zoned B2) into a 5-acre lot and a 125.69-acre tract. The applicant requested minor subdivision status without extending infrastructure, proposing only easements and a development agreement. The proposal did not meet city subdivision regulations, design standards, or fire code requirements for transportation and utility infrastructure.
- Staff recommended denial. Councilmembers expressed strong opposition, citing lack of utilities, fire access, and the creation of an isolated island. One councilmember emphasized the need for a review of the city's water and sewer capacity given the number of approved subdivisions. One public call inquired about the intended use of the 5-acre parcel.
- No votes were taken; the item will be considered at a future meeting.
High Eagle Minor Subdivision Discussion (PL 26-29, Resolution 17-26)
- Kelly Schroeder presented a proposal to subdivide 15.35 acres at 4101 and 4103 Yellowtail Drive into three lots (6.9, 3.8, and 4.6 acres). The property is zoned Gateway District within the Wrench Ranch Master Plan mixed-use area. All lots have access to public streets and utilities, so no new improvements are required. Staff recommended approval.
- No questions or public comments were received. Councilmembers expressed no opposition.
Appointment of Municipal Court Judge
- City Clerk Ashley Trangmo announced that Judge Kisling is leaving September 14 to serve as a circuit court judge. The city recommends appointing Zach Leininger, who has served as an alternate municipal judge since January 2024, as the new primary municipal court judge. The professional services agreement is identical to the current contract. Mayor Bridger supports the appointment. Council will vote on the appointment at the next meeting.
General Discussion and Future Agenda Items
- City Administrator Stuart McGrean reminded the public of school starting August 25, the upcoming Citizens Academy session with parks, and that there is no meeting on August 31 (fifth Monday). He also highlighted BFW scholarship opportunities for youth.
- Councilmember Randall requested a future work session to review the city's water and sewer inventory in relation to vacant lots and approved subdivisions. The mayor agreed to schedule this.
- The mayor noted a street block on Lewis Street due to utility work and asked for completion before school starts. The city administrator said the work should be done this week.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken; all items are scheduled for action at the next regular meeting (week of August 31, 2026).
- Staff recommended denial of the de-annexation and Story House subdivision; councilmembers voiced opposition to both.
- Staff recommended approval of the High Eagle subdivision; no opposition was voiced.
- The appointment of Zach Leininger as municipal court judge will be on the next meeting agenda for approval.
- A work session on water and sewer capacity will be scheduled.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the City of Sheridan's August 24th, 2026 study session. It's 5 30, so we'll go to go ahead and get started. We have five items on the agenda. And we'll jump right in with item number one, which is discussion of ordinance 2306-26. The de-annexation of 1.5 acres. 4,672 or 4672 Coffee Avenue. And with this is our city planner Kelly Schroeder. Welcome, Kelly. Thank you, Mayor, and good evening, council. So the city received a petition to de-annex this parcel of land located at 4672 Coffeine Avenue, which is currently uncladded. 1.5 acres in size. This was previously annexed into the city just a few years ago in 2022. And at that time it was zoned R3 residential. We don't have anything in our code about de-annexation, so we follow what state statute says. But this following state statute, the petition to de-annex was filed with the city on June 23rd. And then within 10 days of that filing, the petitioner published a legal ad in the paper notifying the public that they were requesting to de-annex. And then within 60 days of that filing, the Board of County Commissioners approved a de-annexation report, which was just last Tuesday last Wednesday on August 19th, 2026. That de-annexation report is included in your packets. I'll go through a brief summary of this. Basically, it outlines the service and fiscal impacts if the property were to be de-annexed. And there would not be very many service or fiscal impacts, given that the property is currently served by SAWS Water and City of Sheridan sewer, so that would not change for the county. The access for the property is currently off of US 87, which is a YDOT maintained road, so the county would not see any of the service or maintenance impacts to that. Law enforcement would shift from city police to the sheriff. Emergency response would shift from Sheridan Fire Rescue to the Sheridan area rural fire protection district. And then there'd be a slight change in property taxes with the mills. So the standard county mill would still apply. So all equals out to 23 mills to 18 mills. So fairly negligible to the county in terms of their fiscal impacts if this were to de-annex. However, that report does emphasize that the property lies within our urban service area and that community development principles should also be considered with this de-annexation. The county's report also requested that a record of survey with an accurate boundary description be uh provided should this be successful, and that's something that the city would like to see as well. You'll notice in that petition to de-annex the legal description provided is the same legal description that's on the warranty deed, which is rather incomplete. It just describes a point of beginning and then 100 feet to the north, 393 feet to the south, etc. It doesn't provide any bearings and distances for being able to locate those lines. This is kind of like a de-annexation report from the city as well. The property lies within our joint planning area boundary, which is that one mile radius uh around the city, and our urban service area. If de-annexed future subdivision of the property would still be considered under that JPA boundary, meaning the MOU with the county would apply, and all city infrastructure standards would apply. So if that property were de-annexed and then the petitioner chose to subdivide the property, they would still have to put in roads, water, sewer at a city standard since that's uh available to the property and adjacent to the property. Uh the city is currently providing saw's water to the city, saw's water and city sanitary sewer service to the property. If it were to be de-annexed, the rates would increase to outside city customer rates. If de-annexed, future development of the property will remain subject to the international fire code requirements regarding fire apparatus access roads and hydrant spacing. It is located in an area of logical municipal growth where several adjacent or nearby properties have already been annexed. And again, uh city staff would request that record of survey to be filed with the de-annexation ordinance with an accurate description of the property. So just to kind of point out where this is in relation to other city properties, they have the GIS image up here. The yellow is city, so it is adjacent to city uh here to the south. This is the Woodland Creek or Woodland Woodland Park is across the road. This is Woodland Creek Estates. Um across uh US 87 there is Whitney benefits, and then if you kind of zoom out a little bit, you can see that the city really is growing kind of in this south direction with Woodland Park across Woodland Creek estates across. I get those two confused all the time. Um but there's the two city subdivisions down there and additional city land that's kind of uh naturally grown south there. Uh staff sent notification to 42 surrounding property owners.
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