East Jackson Network

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

By Jake Nichols

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-From the top of Snow King looking down, it’s impossible to miss the hole. That open space, an oasis in the sea of rooftops, is the May property. It has remained undeveloped while all around it development sprouts in each successive historic snapshot of growing Jackson.

The property was made a living trust in the early 1990s from Wayne May to the Town of Jackson with the stipulation that it be used by Teton County Parks & Recreation for use as a park only. Now, 15 years later, the Wayne May Community Park is still stuck in neutral.

“In 2004, we went through a lengthy process of master planning for the site,” said Parks & Rec director Steve Foster. After receiving input from neighbors in East Jackson, town officials, and the general public, Foster was able to chart a course for the future park. “The biggest thing is everyone wanted it to stay neighborhood-oriented. They wanted it to be something designed that you would walk to, rather than a regional focus.”

Regional draws would include things like a soccer complex or ice skating rink, Foster said. “These larger facilities would draw [automobile] traffic from Wilson and beyond and that’s just not what people were saying they wanted here.”

Instead, Parks & Rec sketched out a proposed multi-use park that incorporates both passive and active uses from picnicking to sand volleyball courts. “We wanted to have something for all ages – from kids on bikes to stuff for seniors,” Foster said. “Also, since a majority of residences around there are apartments, many felt a community garden would be a good fit.”

Parks & Rec’s plans for the park also include a large pavilion area for weddings or family reunions, synthetic surface putting greens, croquet and bocce courts, and a pond fed by Cache Creek.

But all has not been idyllic for the proposed park. Funding has been hard to come by as Parks & Rec has struggled with the upkeep of existing facilities. A request for some $3 million in SPET Tax monies earmarked for the May Park were cut in 2006 after Foster agreed with town and county officials that there was a backlog of maintenance needs already and another park would further burden Parks & Rec resources.

“Someday, when the need is there and the funding is there, we will build the park,” Foster promised.
But does East Jackson want the park?

A scourge of recent development in the town and county has given many members of the community a terminal case of “NIMBYism.” Earlier this year a grassroots group calling itself South Park Neighbors organized to fight a proposed 500-home development near Melody Ranch. The controversial growth watchdog Save Historic Jackson Hole also got its start forming against the SRA development in Teton Village.

It was the May Community Park proposal that first showed up on the radar of residents of East Jackson. A loosely-banded coalition, called the East Jackson Network (EJN), was formed two months ago under the direction of East Jackson resident Mike Whitcomb. Whitcomb attended a few Comprehensive Plan meetings and thought his neighbors should know what was going on.

“We are focusing on East Jackson  anything east of Redmond  where there are proposals of upzoning. We do not want density to go here,” Whitcomb said. “The reason we chose to live in East Jackson is for its quiet and residential feel. It is a neighborhood. The lack of commercial [zoning] helps that. We try to keep it out.”
Whitcomb said his group is looking at things like the May Park, ever-expanding hospital housing owned by St. John’s, and a Greg Prugh, Jr., subdivision (Katrina Dog, LLC.) going in at Rancher and Simpson.

Whitcomb said he knows density is desirable, but believes it should happen in town. “I’ve lived four years in Jackson,” he said. “The only reason I’m sticking my nose in it is because I love Jackson Hole. I was in LA, Colorado Springs, and Phoenix; and in every case growth destroyed the reason I originally wanted to live there.”

Whitcomb said EJN is not currently advocating any course of action from their members. He just wants East Jackson residents to be aware of what is coming down the pike. And prepare for battle. “As long as this is an open-ended process with no cap limits then I don’t see compromise happening. If the mayor were to say he would cap growth or density at a certain number, that’s one thing, but with an open-ended process, that just means unlimited sacrifice on our part.”

As for the May Park, Whitcomb said, “I like the park idea. We could do without the open water area. That will just attract mosquitoes. What we need to look at now is the cost.”

Sketch courtesy of Teton County Parks & Recreation
Wayne May Community Park

PERMALINK:
East Jackson Network | Planet JH News Article: Development

Leave a Comment