In May, our community got its first look at the countywide preferred land-use plan and policies recommended by Clarion Associates, the Comp Plan consultant.
(The full draft of the preferred plan and comment forms were posted online at www.jacksontetonplan.com/surveys on June 5. Online comments were due by
July 11, but on July 7, this deadline was extended to July 31. However, the sooner your comments are filed, the better.)

While the first draft of the plan includes some positive elements, the Conservation Alliance is concerned that it pays lip service to community goals without laying the groundwork to accomplish them. Making the transition from broad goals, such as managing growth responsibly and protecting wildlife, to lines on the map is challenging. And granted, this is just a first draft of the plan. But it needs to start on the right track if it’s going to help sustain our unique community.

Click here for our full comments on the first draft.

You might also want to check out our “Big Picture” concerns about the Comp Plan update, and click here for our initial comments, which include these key remarks:
• Evaluations of real consequences of proposed land-use scenarios are inadequate or absent. Much of the plan simply shifts density, at high levels, to primarily South Park and the Town of Jackson, without considering the impacts of overall intensity, rate and extent of development.
• The plan’s identification of “Conservation Areas” appears to underestimate, and exclude, important areas for wildlife.
• Although the public keeps asking for it, the preferred alternative doesn’t include sufficient consideration of build-out numbers and population capacity. How many people and how much development can Jackson Hole bear without permanent damage being done to our natural resources and quality of life?
• The plan’s policies fail to address Jackson and Teton County’s high level of commercial growth potential and its associated consequences, such as increased demand for affordable housing.
• The alternative presents high densities, but with minimal guidelines for proportions of housing categories (ex. workforce vs. market).
• The plan’s policies do not address the effect of cumulative impacts of development.

In mid-June, in response to concerns raised by the Conservation Alliance and others, county and town planners decided to hold a number of Comp Plan meetings in various communities this summer. Click here for a schedule. In addition to these meetings, Alliance community planning director Kristy Bruner will be available to answer Comp Plan questions 4 to 6 p.m. every Tuesday through July 22. Just stop by the Alliance office at 685 S. Cache St., at the base of Snow King ski hill. (Click here for a map.)

RIGHT NOW is the time that county and town planning commissioners and electeds need to hear what you think about how the Comp Plan update process is going. Three recent surveys ranked “Provide stewardship of wildlife habitat and other environmentally sensitive areas” and “Manage growth responsibly” as the community’s highest priorities. Will the draft plan carry out the will of the community? Does the draft plan adequately consider the impacts of land-use decisions on wildlife, natural resources, traffic and quality of life?

Please email your concerns to:

Teton Board of County Commissioners: commissioners@tetonwyo.org
Leland Christensen, Ben Ellis, Hank Phibbs, Andy Schwartz

Teton County Planning Commissioners: planningcom@tetonwyo.org
Paul Duncker, Larry Hamilton, Forrest McCarthy, Joseph Palmer, Tony Wall

Teton County lead planner Alex Norton: anorton@tetonwyo.org

Mayor Mark Barron, Town of Jackson: mbarron@ci.jackson.wy.us

Jackson Town Council: electedofficials@ci.jackson.wy.us
Bob Lenz, Mark Obringer, Abe Tabatabai, Melissa Turley

Jackson Planning Commissioners: Email care of Annette Despain, assistant planner, at adespain@ci.jackson.wy.us
Barbara Allen, Geneva Chong, Lisa daCosta, Greg Miles, Michael Pruett, Ben Read, Jessica Rutzick

Town of Jackson planning director Tyler Sinclair: tsinclair@ci.jackson.wy.us

Town of Jackson principal planner Jeff Noffsinger: jnoffsinger@ci.jackson.wy.us

Letters to the editor will also help during this critical time. Remember to include your full name, hometown and a means of contacting you for verification:

Jackson Hole News&Guide: editor@jhnewsandguide.com
Thomas Dewell and Angus M. Thuermer Jr., co-editors (400-word maximum for letters; 800-word maximum for guest editorials)

Planet JH: grace@planetjh.com
Grace Hammond, assistant editor (300-word maximum)

The Conservation Alliance will continue to monitor and comment on further drafts of the Comp Plan as they become available. For further information, please contact Alliance community planning director Kristy Bruner at (307) 733-9417 or Kristy@jhalliance.org.

Meanwhile, please check out “Balancing Act,” our publication on growth and the Comp Plan update. Look for it around town, pick up a copy at the Alliance office, 685 S. Cache, or download the PDF.