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Resort backs SRA plan
Snake River Associates finds ally in neighbor that once opposed expansion plan.

By Samantha Worthington

After years of fighting over plans to expand Teton Village, Snake River Associates and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort said last week they agree on the latest SRA development plan.

At Friday's Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce luncheon at Spring Creek Ranch, SRA member John Resor kicked off a 45-minute presentation by asking his brother Bill, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort President Jerry Blann and Jack Lewis, resort vice president, to stand before the group while he spoke. The show of unity illustrated a major shift between two powerful forces who were at loggerheads when SRA last submitted its plan in 2003 to rezone more than 500 acres of ranch land just south of Teton Village.

"We decided we had to work together," John Resor said. "We couldn't work as a cattle ranch over the fence and not work with the resort.

"Jack and Jerry have come across the road," Resor said in an interview later. "This is something better for Jackson Hole."

But even as the two groups agreed to work to advance the development plan through community open houses and hearings in front of county officials, another group sought to fight the expansion.

Committee to Save Historic Jackson has launched an advertising campaign against the proposed development. "Massive development in our valley by SRA," the ad's headline states. "SRA would have our county commissioners upzone 32 acres to commercial use for the 70,000 square feet, which, likely is only the first development phase. The 32 acres is an area close to the size of downtown Jackson and represents massive enhancement of value to Snake River Ranch."

What bothers the group is the size of the development, its density and the golf course, said Ben Clark, spokesman for Committee to Save Historic Jackson.

"The plan conflicts with community values ­ it's too big," Clark said. "There are already way too many golf courses in Jackson and to call it open space is ridiculous."

Snake River Associates seeks resort zoning for 510 acres of ranch land on which it proposes an 18-hole golf course, 81,000 square feet of commercial space and hundreds of houses, townhouses and condos. The plan includes 311 free-market units, 142 affordable units and 25 attainable units. The plan guarantees affordable housing for 303 people. The development would include parks and paths, playing fields, a new entrance to the village and parking for 812 cars.

The plan also would place a conservation easement on 42 acres adjacent to Highway 390 south of the resort, and restrict development to 80 homes on another 1,037 acres on another part of Snake River Ranch more than two miles south of Teton Village.

Blann's last official comment on the development was highly critical, in part because of the density proposed. That was before plans were redrawn several months ago by SRA, former county planning director Bill Collins, then principal planner Randy Bosch, and Mountain Resort planner Bonny Hershberger.

"We were at a frustration level," Resor said. So SRA and the Mountain Resort asked the county "Can you step in?"

Blann said it is only natural for the resort and SRA to come together. "It's been 12 years," he said. "It would be odd if we weren't here."

Blann said there is not a financial relationship between SRA and the resort, and the two have no partnership. The new plan appeals to him because of the elements of open space, amenities, parking and affordable housing. Blann specifically touted the aesthetic improvements the plan will enable the resort to accomplish, especially at the resort's entrance.

Right now visitors arrive at a "big parking lot" with military compound-like car barriers. The new plan calls for a direct, although winding, entrance, in contrast with the existing route that first takes travelers away from the village. There are easements for three entrances off Highway 390 in the new plan compared to today's one.

As visitors and residents arrive, the transition into the development will be gradual. On the sides of the entrance road there will be "fields for people to play in, pastures for people who want to pasture their horse," he said.

The density reduction in the redrawn SRA plan also was important, Blann said. In its previous iteration, SRA proposed affordable housing for up to 513 people, much of it employee housing apartments. Today's plan calls for housing for 303 people, more of it affordable and attainable rather than employee housing.

Blann said Mountain Resort officials asked themselves "can we really support that amount?" of employee housing in the previous plan. With the reduction "It's a much more comfortable and relaxed village," he said.

The resort stands to gain land for parking at Teton Village. Today, it relies heavily on 812 spaces in the Haymeadow lot owned by the Resor family. But county authorization for that lot expires this April.

Losing the lot would have a dramatic impact on business, Blann said. Without land for parking, the resort and village businesses would have to build expensive parking structures. And for the short-term a significant number of winter visitors would have to park at the Stilson lot and be shuttled, an "untenable situation for [the bus system]," Blann said.

He said Teton Village is committed to Stilson, but park-and-ride could not make up for the loss of parking spaces given the state of the bus system. The resort also is not in the position of building expensive structures at this point, Blann said.

The new plan would somewhat alleviate the need for expensive parking structures and the village would be able to maintain its 2,014 parking spaces.

"It's a permanent solution," Blann said.

Another factor that influenced the Mountain Resort to embrace the SRA plan was the hiring of Lewis, who joined the company in July. He served as a go-between with the Resors.

At resorts in Colorado, it is rare to find a real town with residences, offices and other features that could be constructed at Teton Village, Lewis said.

"Most resorts don't have the pieces ­ affordable and employee housing and office space," things that would make "a vibrant, year-round place." he said. The new plan "creates a sense of place that's missing at the village."

To have a chance to add such features "are very unique opportunities in the resort business," Lewis said.

Resor said the development will enhance Teton Village and the entire valley. It is an improvement over what his family could do with its property ­ carving it up into second homes for the wealthy. Such a subdivision is "high reward, low risk," he said. "It's not a strategy that supports a community or open space."

"What we have here is something that can make a viable and sustainable village, but something we can be proud of," he said.

Resor and his brother, Bill, said recently the residential density being sought in the plan is approximately the same as what would be allowed were the family to develop its property to the maximum allowed under existing county regulations. The zoning change enables the commercial space and concentration of units near Teton Village.

John Resor said the new plan addresses issues the Committee to Save Historic Jackson used in its fight against a redevelopment district in Jackson last fall. The plan stops sprawl, creates affordable housing and balances density, he said.

But Clark, spokesman for the committee, said he sees a threatening force in the alliance between SRA and the resort.

"That [SRA and resort partnership] right there says a lot to me," said Clark. "It says this is a plan to make something big and it gives me the feeling of being bullied."

Clark, 40, is a fourth-generation Jackson Hole resident and Wilson native whose ancestors settled Elk Ranch north of Jackson near Triangle X Ranch. His father, Lou Clark, served as a Teton County commissioner in the 1990s. "I can't imagine how he would have reacted to this," Clark said. "He certainly wouldn't have agreed with a lot of what's going on."

Clark said he is concerned the open houses for the Teton Village expansion in April are a good start, but they won't enable the public to participate in the decision-making process enough. He said the group launched newspapers ads with the hope to get the public involved.

It'ss important for people to vote for commissioners who support their views, but "in the interim the public needs to contact their county commissioner," he said.

Clark said he is not opposed to development, only the kind of development that is slated for the plan. "It reminds me of anywhere rich U.S.A," he said.

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