Jackson Town Council Implements Temporary Moratorium on Large Commercial Buildings
At its regular meeting yesterday evening, Jackson’s Town Council unanimously voted to place an emergency, temporary moratorium on the development of commercial buildings larger than 35,000 square feet. The ordinance states, “A moratorium is imposed on the submission and acceptance of applications to create, add, or change the use of the habitable floor area for non-residential buildings.” This moratorium applies to potential commercial buildings in the Downtown Core and Commercial Residential Zones. It does not affect development applications already under review, vested under current Land Development Regulations (LDRs), or those with existing zoning or building permit approval.
The Council introduced this moratorium to provide time to review and amend the Town’s LDRs. The goal is to address concerns regarding building size and scale, environmental impacts, infrastructure, and traffic. In 2016, the Town removed the maximum building size limit to encourage higher density workforce housing. However, this change also led to the construction of larger commercial buildings, driven by lot aggregation by well-financed developers, which was not anticipated.
Mayor Morton Levinson noted, “I was on Town Council when that decision was made. It can take years to see both the anticipated and unexpected results of changes to Land Development Regulations.” Community members have recently requested a moratorium to allow time to consider potential amendments to the LDRs to prevent large buildings from changing the Town’s character.
The moratorium will last for 120 days, ending on October 1, 2024. It aims to minimize negative impacts on landowners while allowing the Town to consider necessary LDR amendments. Town staff will work on creating new regulations, which will be reviewed by the Town’s Design Review Committee and Planning Commission before being presented to the Town Council. The public will have the opportunity to participate in the review and debate of the proposed amendments.
Councilmember Jim Rooks commented, “I recognize the seriousness of what’s taking place tonight. I’m convinced this is our best path forward at this time.”
For questions related to the moratorium and its implementation, contact Town Planning & Building Director, Paul Anthony, at [email protected] or 307-733-0440 ext. 1304. For inquiries regarding the moratorium’s adoption or legal matters, contact Town Manager, Tyler Sinclair, or Town Attorney, Lea Colasuonno.
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