Jackson Hole News

resort development

Grand Targhee Wins Expansion Approval

By Chris Hansen, 2-15-08

On Monday, February 4, Grand Targhee Resort owners received long-awaited approval for expansion. After more than three years of planning and public input, the Teton County, Wyoming, board of commissioners voted 4-1 in favor to allow the resort to expand in an area at 8,000 feet on the west side of the Teton Range, just above Alta, Wyoming.

The dissenting commissioner, Leland Christiansen, is from Alta, and according to an article in the February 5 issue of the Jackson Hole Daily, “tried in earnest to persuade the board to vote down the expansion proposal.” He was not alone in his pleas; for weeks local papers have included many impassioned letters about the folly of allowing such a large expansion within the delicate forest ecosystem in which Targhee sits without adequate mitigation measures. The final planning meeting included nearly three hours of public comment, nearly all of which was against the proposal.

But in the end, a majority of commissioners was not swayed and approved the expansion proposal with 36 conditions. Perhaps most significant in the proposal is that approval allows Grand Targhee an upzoning on 120 acres from rural to resort and expansion to 450 development units.

The Grand Targhee expansion plan began with a hotly contested land swap several years ago that exchanged a privately held in-holding near Yellowstone National Park for forest service land at the base of the resort. After successful completion of the land swap, the Gillette family, owners of Grand Targhee Resort, began plans for expansion of the ski area. On tap is a complete re-build of the base area including 150,000 square feet of commercial space, 45 single family units, 45 cabins or townhomes and the remaining 360 units comprised of condo, condo-hotel, and employee units within the 30-acre resort area. With conditions of the expansion approved, Targhee will move ahead with the development of a land-use plan, which according to a release from Grand Targhee could take as many as six months to complete.

In addition to issues of environmental sensitivity, it helps to understand the social and community implications of Grand Targhee’s geo-political situation. Grand Targhee sits completely surrounded by national forest land at 8,000 feet on the west side of the Tetons in the very western portion of Wyoming. However, it is accessed from the Idaho side of the range, through Driggs, and is, for all practical purposes, an extension of the eastern Idaho valley known as Teton Valley, home to Victor and Driggs. But its physical location in Teton County, Wyoming, requires an approval process through and jurisdiction by Teton County, Wyoming, government. (Some have opined that while the approved plan is far from perfect, it was likely vetted through a more stringent approval process than it would have come up against had the plan been put in front of the Teton County, Idaho, planning department.) The road to Grand Targhee runs through the small town of Alta, Wyoming, just over the Idaho/Wyoming state line, and the increased development of Grand Targhee threatens to have perhaps the greatest impact on this small community.

Some of the conditions Targhee owners have agreed to include:

• Preservation of 299 acres of open space to help mitigate development impacts
• Payment of (some say modest) fees to Teton County, Wyoming, to help mitigate the impact on the community of Alta.
• Providing a portion of employee housing on site with the remainder in Teton County, Idaho.
• Providing transportation for their own employees from Driggs.
• Require employee carpooling and transportation for construction workers during development.

For more details on Teton County’s conditions of approval of the Grand Targhee Resort Expansion, visit the Teton County, Wyoming, website at www.tetonwyo.org and download the PDF document.

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