The town of Jackson from the sky. Photo: Nick Sulzer // Buckrail

JACKSON, Wyo. — Stroll through the streets of Jackson right now and you’ll see many construction sites lining the sidewalks. Even to the untrained eye, one thing becomes abundantly clear: the Town of Jackson is experiencing a lot of new development.

During the Jackson Town Council meeting on May 17, Community Development Director Tyler Sinclair shared data shedding light on the development permits the Town has issued thus far this year.

Sinclair said, “This year we have already issued 62 single-family home building permits, compared to 20 a year ago, 28 two years ago, and 9 three years ago.”

According to data provided by Sinclair, the Town has also issued 14 commercial building permits for the 2020-2021 year. Commercial permits issued by the Town peaked in 2018-2019 at 31 total permits.

“Certainly, we are keeping our heads above water but the pace is definitely rapid, and it’s not just the building department, planning is definitely affected there as well,” said Sinclair. 

The Town has already issued 162 total building permits this year, breaking the 2018-2019 record of 135, with about six weeks still left in the 2021 fiscal year.

Total permits include single-family, additions and remodels, commercial and miscellaneous permits.

Remodels and additions to properties have been in high demand in recent years. Since 2017-2018, addition and remodel permits have remained largely unchanged, averaging at 31.5 permits each year. This year 33 permits have already been issued.

Residential construction projects in Jackson have been valued at $63,404,649 in 2020-2021, almost double the value of development in 2018-2019 which totaled $35,728,791.

The Town has also collected a record amount of building fees, which include mechanical permits, electrical permits and trades permits. This year the Town collected $618,204 in fees, the highest to date.

During Monday’s meeting. Sinclair also discussed how busy the three-person building department staff has been. “We are booked with inspections from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m every day Monday through Friday with really little margin and little room for other things,” said Sinclair.

Editor’s note: This article is part of a series on recent housing-related issues in Jackson Hole. To read more articles in this series, click here.

Lindsay is a contributing reporter covering a little bit of everything; with an interest in local policies and politics, the environment and amplifying community voices. She's curious about uncovering the "whys" of our region and aims to inform the community about the issues that matter. In her free time, you can find her snowboarding, cooking or planning the next surf trip.