Development to pay

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

By Ben Cannon

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-A consultant who visited the valley in late February told the Jackson Hole audience that planners appeared on-track with new Town and County plans to mitigate various social and financial costs caused by inevitable new development.

The new policy proposals, aimed at offsetting the impacts of new commercial and residential development on public services, community character and overall quality of life, are part of the latest Comp Plan draft, expected to be delivered to the public for scrutiny later this month.

The community planning lecturer, Gabe Preston of Durango, Colorado’s RPI Consulting, advocates communities “make growth pay its way,” a mantra already familiar to numerous citizens and watchdog groups, many of whom have often repeated the phrase in recent memory.

Preston also encourages growing Rocky Mountain communities to place a cap on or control the rate of growth within existing capacities and to let measurable impacts, like the level of road service, establish the triggers for planners to take actions.
County officials have said the revisions to the 1994 Comp Plan, in which the exactions and fees prescribed for development are widely considered outdated and outmoded, will allow planners the tools to offset development more broadly and effectively. “This plan differs from the last in that it’s more easily updateable, while the last one was number oriented,” said Alex Norton, a staff planner familiar with the new Comp Plan draft.

Under the ’94 plan, which was designed around the exact circumstances like population and land values of that time, development exactions go to parks and schools, but neglect other public services. The new draft, according to Norton, is a more nuanced approach that will establish a Capital Improvements Plan – a mechanism that studies public needs and maps a course for funding target projects.

If the devil is in the details of the ’94 Comp Plan, the new one sets only an ideological baseline for the land development regulations that will follow.
“We have the sense we covered our bases, but we’re not done with the work we need to do,” said Norton. “But at the Comp Plan level, we’re establishing the process by which we define our quality of life.”

Still, some community advocates waiting for a chance to study the plan say they remain cautious to see how Teton County and the Town of Jackson will require new development to pay its way.

“I think it’s very easy for communities to think that growth pays for itself, but in reality we know there are costs the community takes on with growth that are paid for by everyone,” said Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance Director Franz Camenzind.

The Alliance sponsored Preston’s visit, the final installment of four community lectures funded through grants from the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole. Camenzind said the Alliance does not screen its guest lecturers for possessing value sets inline with the organization.

“I didn’t hear him say that we’re doing the right thing, but that he felt we were on the right track,” he said. “The Comp Plan isn’t exactly where the road hits the ground, but it constructs the road. I still have grave concerns, but I’m optimistic.”
County planner Jeff Daugherty said Town and County planning departments expect to have the Comp Plan draft to the public on March 26 – just before the start of spring break.

“It was nice to hear a third party, particularly someone of expertise, give us some validation,” said Daugherty.

Preston was not available for comment Monday or Tuesday. PJH


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Development to pay | Planet JH News Article: Development

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