Planners: Teton County near 7% growth trigger as greenhouse gases and housing pipeline raise concerns
April 07, 2025 | Teton County, Wyoming
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Ryan Hostetter, Joint Long Range Planning, told the Town of Jackson and Teton County joint meeting on April 7 that the 2025 indicator report — which summarizes 2024 data — shows several trends local officials should watch. "We have hit 6.7% since our last comp plan," Hostetter said, referring to the comprehensive plan growth trigger that requires a policy revisit at 7%.
The report tracks the location, amount and type of development and will inform a formal work plan the planning team will present next month. Hostetter said year‑to‑year changes are generally modest but several multi‑year trends stand out: greenhouse gas emissions have risen since 2012 and were 45% above 2012 levels as of 2024, with a 7% increase between 2023 and 2024; transportation remains the largest emissions sector; and the housing pipeline shows signs of slowing.
The report highlighted conservation gains in rural areas and an update to the county natural resources overlay. Hostetter noted a large transfer of land into conservation by an outside party, explaining that a National Park Foundation transaction added roughly 700 acres to the county conserved total in the reporting year. He said the town has also invested in ecosystem stewardship capacity but that several ecosystem and quality‑of‑life indicators remain "under construction" because the data or monitoring approach has not yet been developed.
Councilwoman Reschachter questioned why some indicators remain unfinished despite repeated presentations. "If something keeps going on forever and ever and it's not being addressed, that raises a big red flag for me," she said. Hostetter replied that some metrics require dedicated staff and resources and that the joint planning team had lost a position a year earlier; he said the forthcoming work plan will prioritize projects and resource allocation.
Public commenter Margie Lynch of the Jacksonville Climate Action Collective praised the indicators for making trends visible but urged firmer short‑, medium‑ and long‑term goals tied to department work plans. "Let's go beyond metrics, and let's go to actions to turn the tide on what those metrics are telling us is happening," Lynch said, noting the rise in emissions and that transportation was the largest emissions category.
Commissioners and council members asked detailed questions about the methodology and specific counts in the dashboard. Hostetter said the online indicator dashboard contains building permit and assessor data that the joint planning team considers more comprehensive than some federal survey estimates. He acknowledged a slowdown in the building pipeline nationally and locally and said the team will continue to monitor permit activity and the town/county housing pool and bonus tools used to incentivize deed‑restricted housing.
Elected officials pressed staff to clarify the meaning of the "pool" of growth units and the policy consequences of exhausting it. Hostetter said the town's local development regulations tie certain bonus tools (for example, the "2 for 1" bonus) to that pool; if the pool is used up and council and commission take no action, those bonus tools would not be available until the policy is revisited. Several officials recommended more public education and a scoping exercise for any comp plan checkup once the 7% trigger is met.
Hostetter said planning staff will return in May with a prioritized work plan and, separately, will bring a scoping item to commence a comp plan revisit if elected officials want to proceed. He emphasized that a comp plan update can range from a limited policy checkup to a full rewrite depending on the scope set by the elected bodies.
The presentation also noted shoulder‑season tourism growth and that START transit ridership has rebounded to pre‑pandemic levels. Staff and officials agreed to continue exploring dashboard improvements and to provide additional screenshots or trainings to elected members who requested them.
Ending: The joint bodies had no formal action on the indicator report during the April 7 meeting; staff said they would return with a work plan and additional materials in May.
The report tracks the location, amount and type of development and will inform a formal work plan the planning team will present next month. Hostetter said year‑to‑year changes are generally modest but several multi‑year trends stand out: greenhouse gas emissions have risen since 2012 and were 45% above 2012 levels as of 2024, with a 7% increase between 2023 and 2024; transportation remains the largest emissions sector; and the housing pipeline shows signs of slowing.
The report highlighted conservation gains in rural areas and an update to the county natural resources overlay. Hostetter noted a large transfer of land into conservation by an outside party, explaining that a National Park Foundation transaction added roughly 700 acres to the county conserved total in the reporting year. He said the town has also invested in ecosystem stewardship capacity but that several ecosystem and quality‑of‑life indicators remain "under construction" because the data or monitoring approach has not yet been developed.
Councilwoman Reschachter questioned why some indicators remain unfinished despite repeated presentations. "If something keeps going on forever and ever and it's not being addressed, that raises a big red flag for me," she said. Hostetter replied that some metrics require dedicated staff and resources and that the joint planning team had lost a position a year earlier; he said the forthcoming work plan will prioritize projects and resource allocation.
Public commenter Margie Lynch of the Jacksonville Climate Action Collective praised the indicators for making trends visible but urged firmer short‑, medium‑ and long‑term goals tied to department work plans. "Let's go beyond metrics, and let's go to actions to turn the tide on what those metrics are telling us is happening," Lynch said, noting the rise in emissions and that transportation was the largest emissions category.
Commissioners and council members asked detailed questions about the methodology and specific counts in the dashboard. Hostetter said the online indicator dashboard contains building permit and assessor data that the joint planning team considers more comprehensive than some federal survey estimates. He acknowledged a slowdown in the building pipeline nationally and locally and said the team will continue to monitor permit activity and the town/county housing pool and bonus tools used to incentivize deed‑restricted housing.
Elected officials pressed staff to clarify the meaning of the "pool" of growth units and the policy consequences of exhausting it. Hostetter said the town's local development regulations tie certain bonus tools (for example, the "2 for 1" bonus) to that pool; if the pool is used up and council and commission take no action, those bonus tools would not be available until the policy is revisited. Several officials recommended more public education and a scoping exercise for any comp plan checkup once the 7% trigger is met.
Hostetter said planning staff will return in May with a prioritized work plan and, separately, will bring a scoping item to commence a comp plan revisit if elected officials want to proceed. He emphasized that a comp plan update can range from a limited policy checkup to a full rewrite depending on the scope set by the elected bodies.
The presentation also noted shoulder‑season tourism growth and that START transit ridership has rebounded to pre‑pandemic levels. Staff and officials agreed to continue exploring dashboard improvements and to provide additional screenshots or trainings to elected members who requested them.
Ending: The joint bodies had no formal action on the indicator report during the April 7 meeting; staff said they would return with a work plan and additional materials in May.
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