JACKSON HOLE, WYO – A workforce housing project proposed for Hog Island adjacent to Munger Mountain Elementary School failed to gain traction today at a special meeting of town and county government leaders. To even get the conversation started, applicants for the housing development had to get a zoning change, which required a text amendment to the Comprehensive Plan. That, ultimately, was a no-go even though most every council member and commissioner liked the plan.
Public comment followed the usual lines. Those in the business community advocated for the project, stating housing was the most critical issue facing employers in the valley. Nonprofits and other champions of the underhoused also made their pitch for Larry Huhn’s Munger Mountain Residential.
In fact, virtually everyone to speak up wanted to see housing go in on Hog Island except the people it was going in next to. Neighbors asked electeds to please respect the Comp Plan and its definition of Hog Island as a stable neighborhood more “rural than complete” with a mix of light industrial, agriculture, and single homes.
Town and county staff recommended denial of the text amendment saying not enough has changed in Hog Island since the Comp Plan was amended in 2012. A widened highway, new school, and corresponding water/sewer extension made for the counter-argument that the infrastructure was in place and change, inevitable.
John Q Public
Public commenters included Hank Phibbs who said he bore the scars of 45 years of community planning. He remembered the same arguments about sprawl and traffic back when Cottonwood, Rafter J, and Melody subdivisions went in south of town. And he certainly recalled how difficult it has always been to secure housing in the valley. “It’s only gotten worse,” he said.
Architect Bruce Hawtin reminded the joint boards that since most of the land in Teton County is public, their decisions could only truly screw up 3% of the land at worst.
Hawtin also claimed up to 10,000 vehicles make the trip to town from South Highway 89 on the busiest of days, and housing there could ease some of the traffic coming from Star Valley.
“The school in Hog Island was a very bad decision,” Hawtin added, “but it’s there now.”
Wes Gardner warned the electeds time was of the essence. “Larry is under a strict timeline,” he shared.
It was not what some, including Greg Epstein, wanted to hear, already feeling pressured to toss out a community document decades in the making to satisfy the latest housing proposal.
Tammy Clark, who lives in Hog Island, wasn’t thrilled about the neighborhood change but her biggest concern was money.
“My property tax is up $500 in the last two years. Don’t tell me I won’t have to pay for this development,” she said. “And where are they going to get their water and who will pay for it? The State Engineer’s Office says they aren’t sure about the aquifer there and no one—not even the Munger school—has drilled any test wells.”
How they voted
Commissioner Greg Epstein reminded his peers they were there to discuss the text amendment to the Comp Plan, not, specifically, the merits of Munger Mountain Residential.
And, Epstein, for one, was not ready to chuck the Comp Plan to get housing.
“It seems to me like we are under the gun from the developer but we are getting a little bit ahead of ourselves. The Comp Plan as a guiding document is actually showing us the way but we are (focusing on) this opportunity and throwing away the strategy of the Comp Plan,” Epstein said. “It’s a tough decision but I’m really worried about sprawl, and traffic caused by trips to and from town.”
Commissioner Mark Newcomb voiced his concern for wildlife and the ability of animals like elk to move around on the valley floor in harsher winters, especially if the feds and state phase out supplemental feeding programs.
“We need workforce housing, we all agree, but not solely at the expense of wildlife,” Newcomb said. “If we approve this today, is it a one-off or the beginning of a series of decisions where the urgencies of affordable housing always win out over the nebulous, hard-to-define qualities of open space and wildlife?”
In support of the text amendment, commissioner Mark Barron said he viewed Hog Island as a transitional zone. “I don’t want sprawl either but there are longer travels like those from over the hill or up through the canyon,” he said.
“It’s much easier to say no to things,” commissioner Natalie Macker said in support. “Government has a chance to be nimble here. To not allow ourselves to try is a mistake.”
Commissioner Luther Propst said he was leaning toward having a more holistic discussions under the context of the Comp Plan rather than one-off zoning changes.
The Board of County Commissioners failed the text amendment motion 2-3 with Epstein, Newcomb, and Propst opposed.
The town council had even less taste for the proposed subarea zoning change.
Hailey Morton Levinson said she wouldn’t support it, preferring to have zoning change discussions in the context of the Comprehensive Plan. Arne Jorgensen agreed, saying we should learn from the mistakes made with Rafter J, Melody and Cottonwood.
Jonathan Schechter said he could think of four reasons to oppose the measure. “Contorting the Comp Plan to meet this particular set of circumstances sets off all sorts of warnings for me,” he said. “It feels like we are being tactical and reactive when the Comp Plan is strategical and proactive. This violates the purpose of the plan. We need to follow it. Not with absolute rigidity, but this blows a hole in it.”
Schechter also called the Munger Mountain Elementary School placement in Hog Island the “worst development decision in the county’s history” and also worried about precedent-setting decision of allowing denser housing than the current zoning called for. “How would that allow us to say no to the next plan?” he pondered.
Mayor Pete Muldoon said as a 20-year renter it was has been his longtime dream to become a homeowner but not at this cost. The benefit of housing here outweighs the cost, he said. “This would be abandoning the Comp Plan before we need to,” Muldoon added.
The mayor also pointed out he was not about to go against staff recommendation for denial and both the town and county planning commissions giving it a thumbs down.
The Town Council failed the motion on a 0-4 vote.
