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Jackson Town Councilors approved a conceptual plan on Monday for what would be the town’s largest development to date.
The council voted 4-1 in favor of Mogul Capital’s plan for a hotel, spa and restaurant complex Mogul scaled back original plans by about one-third and broke the luxury residences, hotel and other commercial space into five buildings. Still, the projects will take up a full block in the north part of town on North Cache Street.
Electeds also voted to approve the developer’s request to move the required 16 deed-restricted housing units offsite to a complex it also owns, The Loop Luxury Apartments, planned for South Park Loop Road.
Councilman Jonathan Schechter cited environmental concerns in his sole “nay” vote. In particular, he pointed to a plume of toxic chemicals that sits beneath the site, a leftover legacy from the gas station that once operated on part of the property.
“I’m increasingly uncomfortable with the plume and I recognize that [the Department of Environmental Quality] says that it’s okay to just leave it,” Schechter said to the council. He wants a second opinion on the best path forward.
DEQ has overseen the site’s cleanup since the plume was discovered in 1989 and has promised to continue the cleanup regardless if construction takes place above.
A source of recent council debate has been whether to dig-and-haul the contaminant offsite, like the department has done to the more than three dozen nearby leaky storage tank sites.
Beyond the plume, Schechter doesn’t think the project’s character or size is consistent with town design guidelines.
At Monday’s special meeting, Mayor Arne Jorgensen said he shared many of Schechter’s concerns regarding the plume. But he’d like to see more data before he lands on a preference of digging up contaminants or leaving them in place.
“I recognize that I’m not the geotech engineer that we’re going to hire,” Jorgensen said. “I look forward to having that discussion from the engineers.”
The council added conditions that require Mogul to pay for a third-party review, additional monitoring and a remedial action plan should the plume interfere with neighboring buildings or leak into nearby Flat Creek.
Jorgensen did not rule out holding Mogul to a higher standard than the DEQ, should the third party review suggest an alternative path forward.
“I think it’s important for us to acknowledge there is a benefit to our community getting this groundwater contamination addressed in the best way possible,” Jorgensen said.
Council members held a special meeting for the vote, postponed from an earlier May meeting after requesting more information from the applicant and scheduling conflicts.
With the conceptual phase moving forward, Mogul is now working on a development plan that must include a geotechnical report plus a third party review on how to best address the chemicals.
