My love affair with Teton County’s public lands spans three generations. It began in an August snowstorm, high on the Grand Teton, in the company of my father. I was 13. A cold front had slammed the mountains overnight, changing our objective from the Grand to the Enclosure, its lone satellite peak. My Dad, an […]
Having been born and raised in Teton County and staying to work here as a mountaineering professional, I’ve always known that our Teton County community is compassionate. Whether it’s donating to non-profits through Old Bill’s, pulling together in times of crisis like the Budge Slide, contributing time, land and funds to house local workers, or […]
We need clear development standards that reflect our community’s Common Values as identified in the Comprehensive Plan: Ecosystem Stewardship, Growth Management and Quality of Life. And we need consistent interpretation of these standards.
The Comprehensive Plan identifies Ecosystem Stewardship as our commitment to protecting our natural resources. It identifies Growth Management as a suite of strategies and guidelines on how to achieve the goals of ecosystem stewardship. And it recognizes how Ecosystem Stewardship and Growth Management combine to preserve our Quality of Life. Our Comp Plan is a commitment to a community-first, resort-second ethic. If we are consistent with this vision, we will protect our habitat, provide for a diversity of housing and implement effective multi-modal transportation. The key lies in how we craft zoning rules and development standards to implement our plan.
Astute visitors to Teton County notice three things: that no matter the horizon, your gaze hits a mountain range that appears untrammeled; that some form of wildlife could and often does appear around any corner; and that the community surrounded by those ranges is vibrant, alive with small businesses, art, music and other forms of culture and entertainment. To a visitor, that’s Teton County.
Workforce housing opportunity: one and a quarter acre a mile from Wilson. $3,000 an acre! Alas, dateline 1967. Based on the Federal Reserve’s measure of CPI, that’s about $21,000 in today’s dollars. It was the price Margaret Schofield was asking on 5-acre parcels just south of Wilson when four river guides/ski area workers/off-season laborers threw their money together, bought a parcel and split it equally among themselves. Say you built a 1,500 sq. ft., Bob Koedt-design, house for $13 ($91 now) a square foot, including your laborer’s wage of $1.80/hour ($13/hour now), with the help of a $17,000 ($120,000 now) loan from Felix Buckenroth. Voila! You have housing for a family of five. Today? Not so fast.
