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Teton County Commissioners heard hours of public comment on Northern South Park in an April 8 meeting that spilled out of the chambers and justified another special meeting in the evening.
Of the dozens of community members that showed up, most were in support of the housing project that has drawn scrutiny from local housing and environmental advocacy groups.
Rose Caiazzo was among the supporters. She has lived in Teton County with her husband for over three decades.
(Dante Filpula Ankney / KHOL)
“We’re ready to be homeowners, and […] this feels like our chance to finally own a home,” Caiazoo said.
Some on the development team even wore blue baseball hats with bright green lettering that said “support affordable housing in Jackson.”
County resident and former northern South Park steering committee member, Jennifer Ford, added there’s a “million reasons to say no” but urged the commissioners to approve the plan for the thousands of daily commuters not at the meeting.
“I believe that you have enough to say yes,” Ford said.
The Gill family owns about a third of 200 acres south of town. Their plan presented at the meeting allows for over 600 homes, about 70% reserved for those who live and work in the community. Attorney Amberley Baker represents the family.
“Teton County has a shortage of housing supply that people can afford. And today we have presented a solution to that problem,” Baker said.
But not everyone is on board.
County Commission Chair Mark Newcomb shed his glasses, wiped his brow and remained seated after the April 8 morning meeting ended. He held public comment to a tight three minutes during the meeting. (Dante Filpula Ankney / KHOL)
Amy Kuszak of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance said the project needs a road connecting the east and west sides because right now, “we have a dead end road to nowhere,” she said.
The proposed road in the Gill’s plan ends at the Lockhart family’s property line. The Lockhart’s, who own the majority of the future neighborhood, have not indicated they intend to develop their property.
Kuszak said the added traffic, especially near schools, is a nuisance and a safety issue.
She and some involved with the town and county parks and recreation department also added the parks were narrow andoddly shaped, reducing their ability to hold fields and courts. The developer disagrees and contends they meet regulations.
Public comment spilled over into a special 6 p.m. meeting where many, including Clare Stumpf with housing advocacy group Shelter JH, continued the conversation. They support the project, but have concerns.
The group’s long called for free market homes to be built at a similar rate to deed restricted homes and said that as of now, there’s little ensuring homes will be built in a “timely manner.”
“We ask you to attach a binding condition requiring a concrete, enforceable phasing plan and ask for financial assurances from the applicant to guarantee that the construction of deed-restricted housing units will occur in a timely manner,” Stumpf said.
Additionally, they said the master site plan does not integrate deed-restricted and free market homes and they would like assurances that the community will have oversight over taxpayer dollars if they are ever used in the future. This, as some including Shelter JH, have raised questions surrounding the two nonprofits, Habitat for Humanity and the Community Housing Trust’s, ability to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to fund the construction of deed-restricted homes.
Commissioners will pick up deliberations on April 15 in a workshop. The new master site plan was recommended by planning commissioners last month.
The master site plan is “conceptual” and if approved a more detailed development plan will have to be approved before construction begins. The Lockhart family, which owns the majority of the 200 acre parcel, has not begun the development process after commissioners approved broad land regulations last year.
