5,600-Worker Cheyenne Man Camp Would Be Larger Than 84 Wyoming Cities And Towns

The proposed 5,600-worker man camp south of Cheyenne would be larger than 84 of Wyoming’s 99 incorporated towns and cities, according to the Wyoming Economic Analysis Division. With multiple billion-dollar projects converging on the Cheyenne area at once, Laramie County officials say they are racing against the clock to answer one pressing question: where will the thousands of incoming workers live?

Laramie County Planning and Development Director Justin Arnold told Cowboy State Daily that the Planning Commission, the city planning department, and project developer Iron Guard Housing recently held a pre-application meeting. “The county really wants to be able to collaborate with the city on this because there are a lot of moving parts,” he said. The proposed 800-unit man camp would be built on the prairie just outside Cheyenne, on incorporated county land in the High Plains Business Park adjacent to the massive Meta data center already under construction.

Notices were mailed March 25 to more than 200 landowners within a mile of the site, describing the project as a “secured, temporary workforce housing campus” supporting “large-scale infrastructure projects.” Some residents reacted with alarm. Southside Cheyenne resident Elizabeth Marvin told planners she was “extremely disappointed and angry” and “devastated that even the suggestion of building a work camp that could house up to 1,600 men would be considered.” Heather Madrid listed traffic, utilities, public safety, and property values as her chief concerns, writing that “man camps in similar locations have led to an increase in property crime, DUIs, drug crimes, and violent crimes.”

County and city leaders agree the region is growing rapidly but differ on how much of the workforce has already arrived. Arnold said, “A lot of the workforce we’re trying to accommodate are already here.” Mayor Patrick Collins believes the largest wave is still coming, but agreed the region lacks the capacity to absorb a major labor surge. “We just don’t have the capacity right now,” he said. “No hotel rooms, no Airbnbs. We’re going to have to find a place for them.”

Arnold said no project of this scale has crossed his desk during his tenure. “We need housing yesterday,” he said. One of the largest hurdles is infrastructure. Collins said a development of this size would likely function better on city water and sewer services than relying on county aquifers. Keeping the project outside city limits could help preserve land for future residential growth while avoiding annexation delays, Arnold said. “If the proposed area went through a city annexation process, it could be another 10 months before a shovel goes in the ground.”

Collins said discussions have included possible medical facilities, restaurants, and other services designed to support a long-term temporary workforce. “This is going to be almost like a little city,” he said. Arnold said officials are trying to think creatively while balancing growth against impacts on the broader community. “I wouldn’t be pushing this unless I knew the other option wouldn’t hurt the community,” he said. A public hearing before the Laramie County Planning Commission is scheduled for Thursday at 3:30 p.m.