JACKSON, Wyo. — During a special meeting on Monday, Sept. 8, Town Council unanimously denied the sketch plan for a 66,000-square-foot (sf) hotel proposed for downtown Jackson, on the corner of S. Millward Street and Pearl Ave.
The applicant, Dauntless Development, presented a plan to demolish the existing 11,200-sf Town Square Lodge to make way for a three-story, mixed-use building with a below ground depth of approximately 39 feet, the deepest subgrade level to ever be proposed in Jackson, per the Town. The current structure, which has 12 lodging units, would be replaced with an above and below-ground building housing 67 lodging units, 10 residential units, one street-level retail unit and an underground automated parking system that would be accessed from the alley, according to staff notes.
Prior to Town Council’s vote on the draft plan, Councilors determined that the applicant did not adequately address the project’s potential impacts to public infrastructure, including transportation, potable water, wastewater, parks, schools, police, fire and EMS facilities.
Town Councilor Kevin Regan raised concerns with a deep basement being constructed in the water table, in addition to the past issue of hydrocarbons found in the soil underneath the property. He asked if vapor movement could potentially impact the region’s groundwater. The project’s engineer told Town Council that the “potential for finding hydrocarbon soils is nearly zero.” The engineer stated that while there was hydrocarbon contamination in the past, it was addressed by the Department of Environmental Quality. He added that the structure’s underground levels would be designed to be water tight.
“I don’t know what depth that contamination was found,” the engineer said. “There was no odor at the depth of 50 feet.”
Councilor Jonathan Schechter expressed concerns that the project could increase pressure on local transportation. Town of Jackson Associate Planner Katelyn Page told Councilors that a traffic impact study projected a 15 to 29% increase in vehicular volume during peak hours, from 5 to 6 p.m. Shaun Gilbert, a developer with Dauntless Development, said that the proposed hotel would have minimal impacts to the already existing visitor traffic.
“The increase in traffic is because visitors are coming to town,” Gilbert said. “We are looking to accommodate the visitors that are already here.”
During the meeting, a long line of community members voiced their opposition to the hotel project. Resident Paul Hansen stepped up to the microphone and said “enough is enough.”
“All of these developers are outside investors,” Hansen said. “They are not local people. When are we going to cross the tipping point? We are pricing out the people of this community. We have enough big hotels.”
Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance (JHCA) Board Chairman Patrick Dominick asked Town Council if underground residencies and hotels would become the norm.
“It’s a square peg in a round hole, trying to squeeze this in on a small piece of land,” Dominick said.
Owner of Inversion Yoga Louise Sanseau stressed that Jackson is losing its downtown character and local pedestrian traffic. Jackson Hole High School student Elana Franco said that she was representing her student body and their concerns with the lack of parking in town. JHCA Community Engagement and Project Coordinator Rebecca McKay Singer said that the proposed hotel is a misinterpretation of the town’s land development regulations (LDRs).
“The LDRs do not offer reference for multiple levels of basement and underground development,” Singer said. “The absence of provisions becomes tomorrow’s baseline.”
In closing remarks, Schechter said that the project’s proposal shines a spotlight on the need to update the current LDRs, which were initially revised at “the bottom of the recession” in 2010. Mayor Arne Jorgensen noted that the LDRs have established a “right to develop,” but “did not anticipate underground building space.”
“My concern is not that it is a hotel, but the level of intensity of the project,” Jorgensen said. “I would be comfortable with below ground square footage if there is a public benefit that comes with it. There’s no gray area with building a foundation that could impact groundwater. A hotel that is below grade is not a welcoming presence.”
Jorgensen told the applicant that he has the right to resubmit a new application, but it would need to be a “substantially different project.”
