WILSON, Wyo. — The Teton County Board of County Commissioners discussed the amendments to the conditional use permit (CUP) for improvements to the Wilson Boat Ramp.
According to the staff report, the 10.93-acre site has been used as a formal boat ramp and river access point since the late 1970s. Owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the county received a 30-year right of way grant from the BLM in 2014 and assumed management of the site.
The CUP was approved by the Board in 2017, but according to the staff report, construction was delayed due to funding constraints.
The Teton County/Jackson Parks and Recreation Department Director Steve Ashworth and county staff have since reevaluated the site and proposed two amendments to conditions within the CUP to the board on Sept. 20.
Following a lengthy discussion and public comment from representatives from the Snake River Fund and Rendevous River Sports, the board decided to continue the item to a Nov. 1 meeting, based on a suggestion from County Attorney Keith Gingery.
The Board discussed amending the two proposed conditions, referred to as conditions five and six, related to paving and parking.
- “The proposed access road and one-way loop, including the portion of the levee, and associated on-street parking may be paved to address dust, drainage and erosion concerns.”
- “The applicant is allowed to construct a minimum of 16 and a maximum of 40 noncommercial parallel parking spaces along the two-way part of the access road. Two ADA-compliant, non-commercial spaces may be constructed along the levee road.”
The Board also supported amending condition number two to allow for construction to occur during the use closer, which is Nov. 1- May 15. The amendment would temporarily change the closure to Dec. 1-March 15, allowing Parks and Rec to utilize March, April and part of May for construction ahead of the summer season.
While the Board was ready to make a motion to amend those three conditions, Gingery pointed out that new notices needed to be sent out to neighbors and posted in the paper to inform the community about the proposed additional condition change.
Gingery suggested continuing the CUP to Nov. 1, to give staff time to get an advertisement in the paper and send out new neighbor notices. Public comment will be re-opened.
Parking, paving and safety
“It’s highly unusual for a managing agency to expressly prohibit parking for outfitters from who they collect fees.”
Orion Hatch, program and event director, Snake River Fund and river guide.
The number of spaces proposed totals 28 non-commercial parallel parking spaces and includes two ADA-compliant spaces. The 26 spaces will be located on the access road, similar to how parking works on the site now, but the spaces will be marked.
With only 26 spaces, Ashworth suggested that commercial vehicles and overflow parking would have to go to Stilson, across the street. Folks recreating at R Park and using the parking on the access road were also discussed but Ashworth noted that there is really no solution to regulate who is using the spaces. Ashworth also pointed out that the decision to limit parking is based on balancing wildlife activity in the area and convenience for river users.
Following a question from Commissioner Luther Propst about additional parking south of the bridge, Ashworth clarified that with the new Wilson Bridge construction the parking spots on the south side of the bridge will be removed.
“Those informal parking spaces [on the south side of the bridge] will be displaced onto this parcel or onto Stilson,” Ashworth said.
Issues with the number of spaces and the non-commercial regulation were raised by commissioners and those who spoke during public comment.
Orion Hatch, program and event director for Snake River Fund and river guide, called the CUP a huge win for the boating community. He echoed concerns about the number of parking spaces and the pressure the parking will get once the southwest levee is closed.
“It’s highly unusual for a managing agency to expressly prohibit parking for outfitters from who they collect fees,” Hatch said.
Commissioner Propst and Chair Natalia Macker agreed that they would like to see the parking move to a first-come-first-served model, rather than enforcing commercial and non-commercial parking.
Jared Baecker, executive director of Snake River Fund spoke during public comment. He shared concerns about the safety of the road. “With paving, there has to be some other mitigation measures and that could be speed bumps, speed tables or some traffic calming device. I encourage you to direct staff and the consultants to find that in the budget and find that in the plan,” Baecker said.
Baecker shared that a dog was hit by a car and killed this summer on the access road.
The Board agreed with safety concerns and directed staff to explore speed mitigation measures. Ashworth said his department was exploring seasonal speed mitigation tools.
Aaron Pruzan owner of Rendevous River Sports and Jackson Hole Kayak School also spoke during the meeting. Pruzan said he was involved in the initial planning of the site back in 2016 and although paving was not a condition initially, he recognized that “its probably in the best interest given the use.”
Pruzan hoped to see terracing of the levee implemented in the new plans, something he said was an original vision for the site, and that terraces would create easier access to the river for all users.
Ashworth responded to the suggestion saying he has had conversations with the Army Corps of Engineers and they were not receptive to the concept. Ashworth said building terraces would be a huge engineering undertaking and expensive.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department weighed in on the proposal in 2016, 2017 and again this past August, in a letter to the Board from Alyson Courtemanch, North Jackson wildlife biologist.
Courtemanch shared GPS data from 10 collared moose in the area, highlighting the importance of the habitat for not just wintering moose but also during the spring, summer and fall.
Courtemanch also shared concerns about the parking spaces creating a barrier to wildlife moving throughout the area. “We recommend that several openings are created in the parallel parking design to allow for wildlife to cross the access road more easily. Typically, we recommend incorporating openings at least every 150-200 feet in other types of potential wildlife barriers such as retaining walls.”
