JACKSON, Wyo. — Last week, the Board of Teton County Commissioners (BCC) deliberated over two various community housing projects for more than two hours.
At the BCC meeting on March 3, the board ultimately directed staff to pursue funding negotiations and employee housing intentions regarding the 90 Virginian Lane project. The BCC then told staff not to proceed with a consideration for rights of first rental at the Nelson Drive project. The Community Housing Trust, which is leading the undertaking, was offering the County rental rights for six units at $675,000 each, or a total of $4.05 million.
Consensus among the Commissioners was support for the U.S. Forest Service employee housing project, but hesitation regarding the rental rights for the County. Questions arose over how the price was set and whether it was a wise way to spend housing mitigation fees and Specific Purpose Excise Tax (SPET) funds, given the other community projects currently in the pipeline. The BCC discussed other means available to financially support the project without committing to the purchase of rental rights. Commissioner Luther Propst also brought up recent litigation against the Nelson Drive project, wondering whether or not the BCC could wait until a later date to commit money.
“First, I really support anything that can be done to help the Forest Service deal with their need for Forest Service employee housing on this parcel,” Propst said in the workshop. “I don’t know the merits of the litigation against that project, but if it’s going to take a couple of years, then we can have that conversation about whether to invest in Nelson with 2028 SPET money, if that’s made available. … I don’t want to commit the $3.5 million that we have left in SPET funding into the pipeline for employee housing to a project that’s still a few years out.”
Chairman of the BCC Mark Newcomb addressed the valuation of rental rights, comparing the cost per unit to that of the 90 Virginian Lane project. On Virginian Lane, the right of first rental for each unit was valued at $275,000.
“I — right now — am soft on rights of first rental, because I have not heard of any reasonable mechanism for valuing them,” Newcomb said. “And I think that’s the discussion for today.”
After the unanimous vote declining the purchase of rights of first rental, Commissioner Wes Gardner stressed that the BCC is interested in supporting the development, but using community housing money on rights of first rental is not the direction they want to go at this time.
“I don’t want folks to leave the room not recognizing what we’re saying in this moment, which is — I think — we want to support the project, we just need a different mechanism,” Gardner concluded after the vote.
