Town as Heart Attack

The Jackson Town Council will take a small yet significant step toward addressing an onslaught of massive redevelopment projects Monday when it takes up first reading of ordinances to limit building size. Taken together, the 11 ordinances would restrict the maximum size of an individual building to 40,000 square feet in the downtown core and 50,000 square feet along the highway corridor; hotels and deed-restricted housing would qualify for the larger cap townwide.

The council’s action comes in response to an outcry from the community over mega-projects such as Mogul Capital’s proposed 360,000-square-foot hotel and condo project on North Cache. The dizzying pace of construction in recent years has given everyone a sobering look at what maximizing development potential looks like.

Aided by architects, attorneys and consultants paid to exploit loopholes, developers seem poised to raze every block downtown and erect hulking bunkers of opulent short-term rentals. After three members of the Planning Commission took the extraordinary step of pleading for mercy and an overhaul of regulations, the council was right to impose an emergency moratorium and later extend it to allow for a concise public process to amend the rules.

While effective, the moratorium is a temporary tool that serves a narrow purpose. Community advocates and residents have pointed out that the problems with overdevelopment — impacts on traffic, the environment, water quality and historic character — go beyond simply the height and density of individual buildings. To address some of those concerns, the council wisely has added requiring a conditional use permit for large buildings and limiting the sizes of hotel rooms and condos.

But much work remains to be done, well after a new mayor and council are seated in January. The town must engage the public in a thorough review of development impacts, design guidelines and unintended zoning consequences, including a possible overhaul of the 2-for-1 housing bonus and the “workforce” deed restriction itself. Impacts must be weighed against community benefits.

Let’s hear what town candidates have to say about these specific future issues, rather than looking backward for skeletons in others’ closets.

The review even could include a reexamination of some of the underlying foundations of the Jackson/Teton County Comprehensive Plan, which has long advocated a “Town as Heart” vision for the valley’s development.

Given the staggering influx of wealth and consolidation of multiple lots into block-sized commercial developments, many residents are suffering a Town-as-Heart Attack.