copperleaf

Six years after developers announced their plan to build a 104-lot gated subdivision on 550 acres between Cody and Yellowstone National Park, the Copperleaf subdivision is now owned by the bank that financed it. Critics of the project have said its homes would be spaced close together on small lots, or clustered, in a way not in keeping with the surrounding rural community. Copperleaf is not the only project in the area to draw fire for being a “cluster development.” But proponents say it is a useful technique to help preserve open space and encourage strong ties between rural neighbors. They see cluster developments as preferable to vast checkerboard subdivisions of small ranchettes, each with their own septic tank, horse pen, workshop and outbuildings.