D2 Switcharoo
The following letter to the editor ran in June 27, 2016 of the News&Guide.
In case you missed it:
Dear Town elected officials,
Help us understand. Because this is all we know:
You saw and heard the public outcry. Roomfuls of sobbing residents convinced you to not add more commercial zoning in District 2. You agreed and were resolute, staff had it drawn up, and it needed only the formality of three public readings to become ordinance.
Then, when everyone went home and the room was empty, you pulled a fast one. In the days leading up to your last meeting two councilors were invited to lunch with an ex-mayor and other powerful hoteliers/businessmen in the community. A third was wined and dined by Think About It Jackson Hole. And the mayor was approached by a turncoat organization that once led the charge to house people rather than build Marriotts.
Suddenly, after working with a major hotel developer, the Alliance too was “bewitched” and asked you to change your minds and add more hotel rooms to downtown Jackson. Only Jim Stanford was not invited to taste the Kool-Aid. Is it because they know Stanford is “untouchable?”
You made a shady, last-minute, backdoor deal and added millions of square feet of allowable short-term lodging, which will exacerbate our housing and traffic problems. You waited until you thought no one was watching to pull your switcheroo.
Please explain how this is good government? You must know what everyone is saying. There is no transparency in Town government, no integrity. It was “Chicago politics.”
People want a livable community. You need to fix this at your July 5 meeting.
Thank you,
Save Historic Jackson Hole
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Dear SHJH,
The alliance asked for the additional rooms? Interesting. Here is the Alliance latest news blog post on March 30 for your readers https://jhalliance.org/2016/03/30/4938/ (I have a pdf of it if it suddenly disappears) What changed? I wonder if their donors know about this?
The truth is the bewitching is nothing new. Whatever thoughts may be about the densities in Teton Village, the fact remains that their greened stance shifted remarkably around the same time a deal was made for the organization to receive funds upon the secondary sale of property in a development under their scrutiny (Indeed the word “conservation” needs to be removed from their title, as it’s a fairly empty claim and placing faith in and dependence upon the sturdiness of that foundation has long been a bit misguided).