Affordable housing regulations released

Teton County and the Town of Jackson have released draft regulations intended to promote affordable housing in the community.

The regulations are intended to reinforce three basic findings. The first benefit is that workers living locally have more time to volunteer their personal time, spend money in the community and participate in community events. The benefits also include ensuring that critical workers, like nurses, policemen, and teachers can still make it to work during road closures and weather events that might impact commuter routes. And, fewer commuters would result in fewer cars on the road, less traffic, less pollution, and fewer wildlife collisions.

At the present time, only 15 percent of households can afford market housing. The new regulations will bring existing housing requirements on new developments up to date.

The updates including housing mitigation requirements and expanding mitigation to all types of development to provide housing according to the number of full-time employees they generate. The housing requirements will be used only to house full-time, year-round employees. Seasonal employee housing needs will be achieved through market solutions.

The town and county expect the new requirements to result in lower residential housing costs and more workforce housing. They expect the cost of single-family residential development to stay the same, but the cost of commercial, lodging, and institutional developments will go up. The new regulations assume that providing employee housing should be part of the cost of doing business in the community.

Adjustments in Town Zoning and Parking regulations will also be made to provide affordable housing opportunities by allocating up to 1,800 workforce housing units in town. Most of the units would be concentrated in the residential core of Jackson, between Willow Street and the Rodeo Grounds, and near the “Y” along Highway 22/89.

Officials said the effort is aimed at concentrating people near jobs and services and reducing impact on open spaces important to wildlife and the local environment.

The Town and County plan a public comment event April 12 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Snow King Grand View Lodge.