When the Jackson Town Council held their special meeting on Monday and discussed the controversial low-income apartment project on the Teton County Fairgrounds, things got a bit contentious.
At issue is a 48-unit low-income apartment building to be built at the site of the existing Fair Exhibit Hall.
The Jackson Teton County Housing Department had originally sought to rezone the 1-acre project site from P/SP to NH-1, which would have allowed for more public comment on the proposal. Because rezoning is done by ordinance, it also allows the public the ability to seek a referendum to try to get the decision overturned. That re-zone application was withdrawn and a new internal interpretation by the Town Planning Director declared that the apartments were an accessory use and therefore no longer subject to an ordinance or referendum.
This did not sit well with opponents of the project whose group, “Save the Rodeo Grounds” has campaigned to have the Town stop the project and find a different location for the housing.
Spokespeople for the group threatened to sue the town to stop it.
Rebecca Bextel said, “I want you to know we’re going to sue to stop this… … and I’m going to dedicate myself to making sure whoever votes for this does not get reelected”
Jim Genzer said, “I feel very strongly the majority of the people would vote not to have any further development on that fairground property.”
Commenter Nikki Kaufman said, “I’d just like to point out to the Save the Rodeo Grounds group, they have said they’re not against affordable housing but then points out some of these bigoted and really harmful comments I’ve heard over and over and over that point to the opposite.”
She added, “I would guess most people in the room have secure housing because of their immense privilege and and luck and now they get to decide that others don’t have that opportunity just feels very very unfair.”
Councilman Arne Jorgensen said, “No one sitting up here that’s particularly concerned about a referendum or for that matter being threatened with a lawsuit.”
Councilman Jim Rooks said that he wanted the Town to go through the rezoning process to allow for more transparency in the process.
Mayor Hailey Morton-Levinson, Councilwoman Jessica Sell-Chambers, and Arne Jorgensen voted to move the project forward. Rooks, who said he supported the project but not the zoning, voted no.
Residents have an opportunity to appeal the ruling.
