JACKSON, Wyo. — On Tuesday, March 5, the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) voted four-to-one in favor of approving the Northern South Park (NSP) neighborhood plan, with the addition of three added Land Development Regulation (LDR) amendments to allow for a density incentive tool for future development.
Commissioner Luther Propst told the Board before making the motion to vote, “I feel like this is the most complicated decision this board will make and perhaps the most significant land decision in the history of the county.”
After four years of planning, public comments, revisions and deliberation the neighborhood plan will consist of 1,437 new residential units in total. Area 1 (101 acres on the Gill property) will be 600 units, and 719 units will be allocated to Area 2 (121 acres on the Lockhart property). At the hearing, the commissioners settled on increasing the units planned for the Lockhart land since they have more acreage. This new total of 1,319 new residential units, along with the inclusion of the 118 existing entitlements, totals 1,437 units.
The stipulation remains that at least 70% of the units will be deed-restricted workforce or affordable housing (30% market rate and 70% deed restricted).
In response to public comments, the BCC added the three new amendments: the master site plan will have an expiration date; the development pace of market homes in ratio to deed restricted homes will be monitored; and the total number of units will drop from 1,800 to 1,319, approximately a 26% reduction.
According to Amberley Baker, representation for the Gill family, these amendments are further assurances that the neighborhood plan will be realized over the coming decades to address the community’s needs for affordable housing. Baker told Buckrail that the County Commissioners have been highly engaged throughout the process during the last four years, and due to the community’s housing crisis the BCC felt yesterday was the appropriate day to vote.
“After years of review – workshops hearings, stakeholder groups, public open houses, public comment, public forums and multiple meetings of detailed scrutiny – we can get to work to provide actual housing methodically planned in the right place and just in time to make a meaningful difference for the community,” Baker said.
A main concern of the BCC was that the deed restrictive units would not be integrated and built in concurrence with the free market units. Commissioner Gardiner said, “There’s no real assurances on the side of the community, other than faith in our partners.”
Teton Habitat and the Community Housing Trust project partners have assured the BCC in February public meetings, that sufficient funding will be raised to help construct the affordable units in a timely manner.
Town/County Principal Long-Range Planner Ryan Hostetter explained to the BCC how the development of free market housing will halt if deed restricted homes are not constructed at the same pace.
“A developer can get half-way with their market units and once they get there, they have to pause or stop,” Hostetter explained. “We will check and make sure that 20% of half of the units that have been built have issued building permits for affordable units.”
County Commissioner Mark Newcomb spoke to the risk of a neighborhood with 70% deed restricted housing, “I look back to the achievements that this community has made when we hand them the responsibility and I can’t think of one that they haven’t fulfilled. Whether it’s the first parcel in the park that needs tens of millions of dollars or when we put the history museum item on the SPET ballot…we didn’t even know if the block was going to be saved, but it worked out. Over and over again, I’ve seen the community step up.”
Newcomb also commended the generosity of the Gill family in their donation of 45 acres of land for affordable housing.
During the meeting, Hostetter explained to the BCC some of the neighborhood plan’s LDR’s.
- There will be a range of development, including affordable housing (the vast majority), free market housing (a limited amount), small single family homes, duplexes, cottage courts, apartments, townhomes, open spaces, trails, parks and schools (this is under TCSD #1’s jurisdiction).
- Density will be 5.94 units per acre, which allows for 600 new units in Area 1 and 719 new units in Area 2.
- Contiguous open space is required in the master site plan (exact acreage and location has not been designated in the plan). No fencing is allowed in open space areas to allow for wildlife permeability.
- Any fencing that is constructed must be wildlife friendly.
- Development will be required to be connected to the Town of Jackson’s waste water system.
- There will be a governance of land use in place to regulate the pace of free market development if deed restricted housing isn’t constructed at the same pace.
