Teton County and Jackson held a joint meeting this week to discuss joint affordable housing initiatives, including the proposed affordable housing development on the Virginian RV park.
Last year, the Jackson/Teton County Housing Authority bought the land for $28 million dollars with the intention of building at least 150 units to expand local workforce housing.
After selecting Pennrose LLC among a pool of developer candidates this spring, the town and county chose a plan that came with 226 units.
The earliest the project would break ground would be spring 2026, according to the affordable housing department director April Norton.
For some nearby residents, however, an additional 76 units is more than they think the area can handle.
While longtime Jackson local Stephanie Williams supports finding a solution for housing, she was not convinced the new number takes traffic flow into consideration.
“I challenge you to drive down to the mountains between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. any day this summer and say, ‘What’s going to make this better? Add another 100 to 200 cars,’” Williams said during public comment.
County Commissioner Greg Epstein shared concerns as to whether the plan as it stands would create long-term housing options.
“I think we’ve just gotten completely way over our skis on this whole project,” Epstein said. “People don’t want to live in apartments as forever homes. They want to live in single-family homes.”
Town Council candidate Perri Stern shared similar concerns. She felt that it was unclear whether the developer’s plans would create multifamily housing units with a real neighborhood feel or more temporary workforce housing for seasonal workers.
“Why don’t we focus on efforts or efforts on building homes, not units? When will we serve those members of our community who want to build a life here, and who want to be here for the long haul?” Stern asked at Monday’s meeting.
Town and county officials will continue to discuss the proposal as well as potential changes to affordable housing regulations, and who gets priority for such programs, at next month’s regular housing authority meeting.
