JACKSON, Wyo. — The Teton County Board of County Commissioners voted to allow Rafter J’s former assisted living facility to be converted into deed-restricted, workforce housing, but did not yet approve a specific plan to bring that conversion to life.
Commissioners approved an amendment to the Planned Use Development (PUD) for the Legacy Lodge property, with five conditions. The amendment allows the space to be converted into apartments, but it doesn’t yet allow for any specific construction. That’s the job of a Conditional Use Permit (CUP). The one on the table, submitted by landowner Sadek Darwiche and Stage Stop, LLC, will have to wait until the next meeting on May 17.
The proposed project would add 57 apartments to the workforce housing supply, housing up to 132 total occupants.
The occupancy limit was one of five conditions of approval for the PUD. Commissioners edited the condition to put the limit on the development at-large, rather than split hairs over how many unrelated people could live in each individual unit.
A workforce deed restriction was another condition meaning the apartments will always be designated workforce housing according to Housing Department standards, no matter the owner. Other conditions include a minimum parking requirement of one car per apartment to keep cars off the street and a requirement that each unit have a full kitchen, which will require renovations to the current structure.
Finally, the applicant will have to provide a transportation demand management plan.
Such conditions are usually reserved for CUPs rather than PUDs, attorney Keith Gingery explained. But attaching them to the PUD “gives neighbors a lot of protection from something coming that they weren’t expecting,” he said.
In other words: Even if Darwhiche’s project isn’t approved, or changes hands, those conditions will apply to any future owners and proposals.
“This is to protect neighbors and make sure it stays workforce forever,” Gingery said.
Despite opposition from neighbors, commissioners seemed to agree that housing at Legacy Lodge was “inevitable,” in Commissioner Luther Propst’s words, and an important community need.
“The option is not ‘no,'” said Commissioner Greg Eptsein. “This is an underutilized asset and the community needs it.
Four out of five commissioners were present at Tuesday’s meeting. All four present voted to approve the PUD, though Mark Newcomb called it one of the “more difficult” applications he had dealt with in his tenure and said he was wary of “cannibalizing” one community need, housing, over another, assisted living.
Commissioners ran out of time to discuss the CUP for the actual project proposal, which needs “significant work” in Propst’s eyes. The board will try to fit it onto the agenda of the next regular meeting, scheduled for May 17.
