JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — Outside of councilwoman Jessica Sell Chambers, who brought the issue to her elected colleagues, no one on the town council is expressing interest in an emergency moratorium on development in Jackson.
Seizing on a letter to the council from ShelterJH asking councilmembers to consider imposing an immediate moratorium, Chambers waded in carefully Monday at the regular meeting of the council.
“I think we should note the term ‘moratorium’ is quite triggering for a lot of people,” Chambers began. “There are tons of people that could be effected by a moratorium in some way. But I also think we need to pay attention to the fact there is potentially a far greater number of people that are affected by this train that has left the station and is barreling down the tracks.”
Councilman Jim Rooks agreed the housing situation and pace of development has reached a fevered pitch, “terminal velocity,” as he put it.
“No matter what we’ve seen in the past, the last few years have been seemingly exponential by comparison,” Rooks said. “But what would happen if we had a moratorium? Things would slow down, sure. But that’s not all. I keep thinking about unintentional consequences of well-intentioned thoughts. It is infinitely complex.”
Rooks added that he has received hundreds of heartfelt emails about the cost of living, lack of housing options, and loss of quality of life in Jackson.
He said any solutions would have to involve funding of significant size.
“Many of ShelterJH’s proposals are nickel-and-dime solutions to a hundred-million-dollar problem,” Rooks said. “I couldn’t support a moratorium at this point, certainly not across the board. I agree a lot of people are hurting right now and we need to move as quickly and as intelligently as possible right now. I just don’t think a moratorium is our best chess move at this point.”
Vice mayor Arne Jorgensen, who conducted the meeting Monday in the absence of Mayor Hailey Morton Levinson, also had no interest in a moratorium on commercial development, saying the issue was challenging one that hinged on larger discussions of priorities of the council.
“We need to continue to talk about our priorities on residential and commercials zones. Many of the points raised in emails we have received we are working on,” Jorgensen said. “I would also remind people we budgeted $13 million for housing in our most recent budget. That’s the most ever committed to housing. Certainly, there are more things we can do, and I look forward to a more refined discussion in the near future.”
Chambers, sensing her peers were kicking the can down the road, doubled-down on her plea.
“I think a lot of people want to hear that we are taking them seriously. Because there is a cost to the community that is beyond the numbers. When we just direct people back to these other conversations we are not honoring that and taking it seriously,” Chambers said. “I don’t want to miss the opportunity to let the community know that we are in fact hearing them, taking what they have said to heart and actually doing something more and greater than what we’ve done. Because I think we can all agree it clearly has not been enough.”
Councilman Jonathan Schechter agreed the roar has become a din in recent days, referring to a news story about a high-end condo development coming to Cache and Pearl followed by the ShelterJH request for a moratorium. He acknowledged there were real fears about what is going to happen to our community.
“If we are going to do something we need to do it properly. We need to do it right. We need to do it in a sophisticated fashion,” Schechter said. “My personal concern is we do not just rush willy-nilly into something based on a kneejerk reaction to something that is deeply impassioned but for which we don’t even have a good framework for discussing it.”
If not now, when? Chambers asked her councilmates.
“I do think it would be in our interest and the community interest to not table this and put it off, but to have an actual conversation about what this might look like,” Chambers said. [Maybe that means] hitting the brakes and looking at this situation from a macro level. Where do we want to go? What kind of community do we want to be? And are the decisions we are making leading us to that outcome or not?
