Teton County planning commission recommends approval of Aspen Meadows Lot 20 subdivision amendment

The joint City of Driggs and Teton County Planning and Zoning Commission voted to recommend approval of an amended preliminary plat that would split Lot 20 in the Aspen Meadows subdivision (1138 Ski Hill Road) into a 1.76-acre parcel and a 0.79-acre parcel, county staff said. The commission’s recommendation includes three staff conditions, including updated deeds and recorded covenants, conditions and restrictions tied to the split.

The split was proposed by owners Jason Robert and Nina Grimm; staff told the commission the parcel is in the scenic corridor overlay and within big-game migration seasonal range, and that Eastern Idaho Public Health found the site suitable for subsurface waste disposal. The applicant proposes individual well and septic systems and to continue using the existing Ski Hill Road access with a shared driveway.

Staff recommended approval with conditions because the application met the preliminary-plat criteria in Title 9 (subdivision procedure) but must address building-envelope placement, deed language for the new lots, and updated CC&Rs to reflect mitigation in the submitted natural resource analysis. Staff noted the property was platted in the late 1970s and has undergone multiple lot splits and a prior condominium conversion in the subdivision; there is no active homeowners association (HOA) governing the entire development.

Applicant Nick Mestry, a civil engineer representing the Grimm family, told the commission the split is for family estate planning and to allow adult children to have adjacent lots; he said the proposed layout preserves the front scenic and wildlife habitat area and places buildable areas toward the back of the lots. Mestry and staff both raised a recurring issue: the application was filed under the older Area of Impact (AOI) rules (average-density 0.5 zoning), while future building permits will be processed under the newer AOI code with different setbacks and ADU allowances. Mestry and the applicant asked the commission to allow the setbacks associated with the zoning in place at time of application (10-foot side setbacks under the older code) but acknowledged the potential conflict when future building permits are processed under the new code.

Commission discussion focused on that code overlap and on whether accessory dwelling units (ADUs) could be relied on as a permitted use. Staff clarified that ADU allowance depends on the code applied at building-permit review and that the proposed plat can include building envelopes without guaranteeing an ADU; building envelopes were submitted to reflect septic, well and natural resource constraints. After deliberation commissioners found the subdivision preliminary-plat criteria in Title 9-3-2(c)(8) were satisfied and moved to recommend approval with staff’s three conditions.

The motion to recommend approval passed by voice vote during the joint hearing; Commissioners Mosley, Hatcher and Parker recorded “Aye” on the roll call.

The commission’s recommendation will go to the Board of County Commissioners for preliminary- and final-plat decisions and associated public hearings. Pending that BOCC review, the conditions of approval require the applicant to provide drafted deeds for the new parcels, update CC&Rs to reflect the natural-resource mitigation and ensure building envelopes do not conflict with the applicable building regulations at time of permit application.