Letter to Town Council dated March 17, 2017:

Dear Jackson Town Council,

Thank you for your continued work on behalf of the town and our community. We recognize that there are many challenges in front of you, particularly in regards to meeting housing and transportation needs, and we appreciate your vision and commitment to finding solutions.

Jackson Hole Working (JHW) is committed to supporting policies and projects that meet the goals of the Jackson/Teton County Comprehensive Plan, including housing 65 percent of our workforce locally.

As you know, this community has been discussing the need for workforce housing for decades; long before the Jackson/Teton County Comprehensive Plan was adopted, during the comp plan process and long after. The truth is that in order to make real strides in housing our workforce locally, we need tools and policies in place to support 100% private sector rentals being built and financed.

We applaud the Town Council and County Commission for their vision and leadership in placing housing projects on the SPET ballot, but we need ALL options on the table when it comes to meeting our workforce housing needs.

JHW respectfully asks for your support this Monday, March 20, 2017 on the Text Amendment on Affordable Housing Standards to Exempt Apartments.

If we are going to make large strides in meeting our workforce housing needs, our community needs the private sector engaged in solving perhaps our valley’s greatest challenge. By eliminating road blocks and streamlining the process, we open the door to private sector solutions that benefit our community members most in need of stable, rental workforce housing.

We understand the concerns that have been voiced about deed restrictions guaranteeing those apartments are rented by the workforce; however, JHW supports the notion and idea that apartment buildings, like Blair Place, are inherently workforce rentals. By including restrictions to this text amendment that apply to apartment buildings of ten units or more, and whose rooms do not exceed maximum habitable floor area as established in the Housing Department Rules and Regulations, we feel confident that these units will be almost solely rented by the workforce.

JHW supports public, public-private and private sector workforce housing solutions that will help Teton County reach our ultimate goal of housing 65 percent of our workforce locally.

We would like to thank the Town Council for approving the exemption of interior corridors from the calculation of FAR in apartment buildings of 10 units or more. JHW supports these types of creative initiatives that will help continue to remove barriers of getting housing on the ground.

We hope to continue to work together to bring housing solutions to Teton County. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Mark Barron, High Country Linen Service

John Carney, Carney Logan Burke Architects

Kelly Lockhart, Lockhart Cattle Co.

Ted Staryk, Snake River Brewery

Jackson Hole Working Board of Directors