TMR application returns to Planning Commission

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

By Ben Cannon

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-The team representing the Teton Meadows Ranch subdivision proposal returns to the county planning commission today, continuing the project’s first step in the public process.

At 5:45 p.m. in Grand Room of Snow King Resort, the planning commission will reconvene to allow more time for public comment, which it had to cut short last week after a five-hour meeting.

The development, aiming to build 500 homes on 288 acres adjacent to the Rafter J and Melody Ranch subdivisions in South Park, now includes a mix of 250 traditional and deed-restricted affordable housing units. With the 50 percent affordable housing component, the project will seek a special affordable housing upzone that allows a density bonus. The property is currently zoned rural, where 50 large lot homes could be built without a zoning change.

Last week throngs of people crowded the county boardroom, many staying through a meeting that went until 11 p.m.
Some citizens – many of them neighboring South Park residents – criticized the density of the proposal, citing impacts to traffic, scenic character, wildlife and property values. Others countered that the need for low and mid-income housing outweighs these concerns.

Real estate agent David Viehman, who publishes valley-wide real estate data in “The Hole Report,” said the presence of affordable housing does not, as some have claimed, reduce property values in surrounding neighborhoods. He cited the neighboring Melody Ranch subdivision where, alongside a makeup of 30 percent affordable or attainable housing, property values have increased commensurately with the rest of Jackson Hole.

“A lot of people I talk to say that’s the kind of neighbor they want, rather than some second home owner who’s never around,” Viehman said this week, reiterating his public comments at the planning commission meeting. Viehman and others are beginning to rally behind the project, citing the need both for traditional affordable housing and the “gap” housing component for valley residents who make too much to qualify for affordable housing but cannot break into the free market.

The deed-controlled gap housing would be available on the market to qualified full-time valley workers at price points between $464,000 and $760,000, with appreciation caps at 5 or 6 percent of the consumer price index. Some are concerned that in future years the gap housing could appreciate well out of the price range for its target residents. But, as Viehman pointed out, a 5 percent appreciation in five years would yield a 25 percent increase. The free market in Jackson Hole has seen appreciations of 100 percent over five years.

“The fear-mongers out there are trying to do anything they can to disrupt the process and get people off of what the true objective is,” Viehman said of TMR’s opposition.
The planning commission will decide whether or not to make a motion to recommend the application to Board of County Commissioners. That will depend in part on the applicant’s reaction. Last week’s meeting left some unanswered questions that planning staff requested more time to address.
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TMR application returns to Planning Commission | Planet JH News Article: County News

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