JACKSON, Wyo. — The Board of County Commissioners voted yesterday morning to reconsider the conditional use permit (CUP) for the Legacy Lodge. The CUP was denied in a 2-2 vote by the same board on May 18.
Commissioner Luther Propst proposed a motion “to reconsider the CUP 2021005 regarding the legacy lodge in Rafter J and to have the application come back before this board on Sept 20, with my understanding that the applicant will use this time to make an effort to resolve issues with the neighbors to further mitigate the impacts of the proposed CUP.”
“I would love to see a process over the next four months in which as a community we strive to develop a suite of proposed conditions that make an exemplary example of deed restricted housing for our community,” Propst said.
Chief Deputy County Attorney Keith Gingery weighed in during the meeting, speaking on the legality of the motion. “It’s still alive but there is a time period where the parties particularly the neighbors and the applicants are working towards some conditions that could work.”
Epstein seconded the motion but raised concerns about workforce rental rules in terms of the retiring community.
Joint Housing Department Director, April Norton was present at the meeting. She said, “in a rental context like this, someone can retire in a workforce rental. We do require that you reach the retirement age defined by the IRS, which is 62.”
If an individual is retired already, they can not currently obtain a workforce rental Norton said.
Commissioner Mark Newcomb voted against the reconsideration extension and advocated for a new application process altogether. “A process that keeps the current application in front of us and results in a level of back and forth is liable to appearances of back door dealing,” Newcomb said.
“That’s not to say there are no solutions, there are solutions,” Newcomb said.
The motion passed with Propst, Barron and Epstein in favor. Board Chair Natalia Macker is out on maternity leave.
