March 2025
Northern South Park meeting on 4/8
The Teton County Planning Commission has recommended approval of the Gill family’s Master Site Plan for Northern South Park. Key considerations during the discussion included a review of the location and size of parks; the quality of wildlife permeability; and traffic management, especially regarding a potential east-west connector road. What do you think about these issues?
The proposal now advances to the Board of County Commissioners for further evaluation, scheduled for April 8.
Stay tuned for more information, and contact your County Commissioners with your thoughts: commissioners@tetoncountywy.
ShelterJH board member Dan Ragsdale weighs in
In case you missed it, ShelterJH board member Dan Ragsdale shared a comment this month about a recent message from Town Councilor Jonathan Schechter about our community’s housing shortage. Schechter’s email says: “Unless an affordable housing advocate is addressing the issue’s economics (of seemingly unlimited demand for housing and limited supply), “their efforts are simply performative.”
There’s no question that the global demand for housing in Teton County is a potent driver of the housing shortage. Undoubtedly, the fact that 97% of land is permanently protected open space is a significant compounding force as well. Do you think we can address the global demand to live here? How? Do you think we should be creative about opening up public lands for housing? How? Do you think we can focus density where it already is to provide opportunities for locals to live locally? How? Check out Dan’s take.
Senate File 40 fails!
Great news: Senate File 40 failed—and the legislative session is over, which means that the bill is officially defeated!
Huge thanks to all of our elected officials and leaders who worked to make sure an irrelevant amendment to Senate File 40 did not become law and threaten Wyomingites’ ability to make local decisions locally. Unfortunately, the problematic amendment was attached to a very good bill that was vetted by the Regulatory Reduction Taskforce which would have made it easier to build homes locals can afford. We’ll have to try again to pass that bill (without an irrelevant amendment) next year!
Special thanks to: Senators Mike Gireau and Chris Rothfuss; Representatives Mike Yin and Liz Storer; all of the state legislators who voted against this bill; and lobbyists who worked hard to preserve local control. Thanks to all of YOU, who contacted your lawmakers to urge them to vote no!
Hot Topics in Housing
ShelterJH members share relevant media pieces with one another through our Google Group. Here are what our conversations have been about this month:
- How America ceased to be the land of opportunity, Pitchfork Economics (thanks to member Joey Sackett)
- Tenants protect eviction threats at Bozeman apartment complex, Bozeman Daily Chronicle
- How giant white houses took over America, Slate (thanks to member Mike Welch)
- Sweeping property tax bill inked by Mike Gordon, KHOL
- Is federal land the solution to the housing crisis?, Wyoming Public Media
