County comes calling

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

By Ben Cannon

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-As part of the ongoing updates of the joint town and county Comprehensive Plans, the county will conduct random phone polling over the next two weeks.
Callers from the University of Wyoming, which was contracted to do the survey, will ask residents questions “regarding perspectives related to growth and development in the county,” a release stated.

Callers will identify themselves as pollsters for the “Official Teton County Survey,” as opposed to a private group. Some private groups, like Save Historic Jackson Hole, have commissioned their own polls regarding the future of development in Jackson Hole.
“This survey is important because it represents a scientific approach to assessing the community opinions and attitudes about the future of Teton County,” county planning director Jeff Daugherty said in the release. “We believe that this survey is a step in the right direction and encourage those contacted to spend a few minutes to help make a big difference in their community.”

The phone survey will randomly call numbers of both traditional land lines – an increasingly underutilized utility, especially among young people – and cell phones.
A similar poll is available to the public online and had been taken by about 650 people as of Monday, Blair Leist, principal planner with the county, said. “I think that’s a healthy number,” he said.

The online poll will be removed from the website www.JacksonTetonPlan.com by the end of the workday Friday.
After a brief postponement, Teton Meadows Ranch returns to the county development application process next week.

At 6 p.m. on Monday in county chambers, representatives of Sequoia Development will meet with the planning commission to discuss the proposal to build Teton Meadows Ranch, a 500-home development in South Park.

Last week, a Wyoming Department of Transportation letter raised concerns about one-road access to the development in the event of an emergency. That comment, along with questions from planning staff and wildlife concerns raised by neighbors of the proposal, prompted the development team to move for a continuance, spokesperson Kari Cooper said.

“We do feel very confident going into next week’s meeting,” Cooper added. She said she did not expect any significant changes to the project to be unveiled at Monday’s meeting.

A meeting last month saw dozens of people speak both for and against the proposal. There is not expected to be any public comment allowed at Monday’s meeting.
Many who have spoken against the proposal, which would build 250 traditional affordable homes as well a deed-controlled, below-market “gap” housing component, have prefaced their comments with the statement, “I am not against affordable housing.”
In a phone interview Monday, Cooper said, “I think this process will come down to ‘do you support affordable housing or do you not.’”
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County comes calling | Planet JH News Article: Development

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