Posted: Thursday, May 8, 2008 12:00 am
JACKSON (AP) - The Teton County Commission has imposed a temporary moratorium on large subdivisions.
The action on Tuesday stops several housing projects involving hundreds of new homes.
The moratorium on development applications of more than 20 acres was approved on a 3-2 vote. It will remain in effect until Dec. 31 or when changes to a joint Jackson and Teton County development plan are adopted.
The moratorium, which includes a clause allowing for "reasonable exceptions," also halts zoning changes that would increase the number of homes allowed on a property from what is currently allowed.
The moratorium discussion began in March after the county received two requests to consider plans for about 600 new homes south of Jackson. A third request for about 500 homes had already won the recommendation of the county planning commission but had not been approved by the county commission.
The fates of all three projects are now uncertain.
Dave Larson, attorney for backers of two of the projects, said he doesn't know what will happen with his clients' projects. He also said the moratorium is an overreaction.
"I don't think there was an emergency," Larson said. "Each of the projects in front of them can easily be dealt with under the existing regulations. … Commissioners have the right to deal with them in their sole and sound discretion."
Larson called the moratorium a loss for people who make too much money to qualify for an affordable home - more than $104,344 for a couple - but too little for the free market.
"That's the segment of the community that is probably hurt most by the moratorium, just because there is no supply and no prospect of any supply in the near future," Larson said. "As time goes by, things are just going to become more and more expensive."
But some members of the public had urged commissioners to enact the freeze saying county planners need to map out how to develop the large area south of town.
"That area will define forever what Jackson Hole is all about," area resident Barry Sibson said.
County Planning Director Jeff Daugherty said the planning discussions will focus on land from High School Road to the southern side of South Park Loop Road and how to develop it. The area is about four miles long.