Planning commission backs sketch plan for mixed‑use hotel/condominium project, raises contamination and loading‑zone concerns

The Town of Jackson Planning Commission on March 19 voted to recommend approval of a sketch plan for P204‑170, a proposed approximately 190,000‑square‑foot mixed‑use project with hotel and condominium components, five buildings and underground parking. Staff recommended approval with conditions; the commission voted to forward the sketch plan to the town council for the April 21 meeting.

Tyler Valentine, town planning staff, said the project team reduced the footprint of the east‑side basement to avoid the northern area associated with a historical benzene plume and that the revised site plan shows a landscape‑service ratio (LSR) of about 15%, above the minimum required. He told commissioners staff had added conditions requiring final, development‑plan level details — including final square‑foot allocations for restaurant and amenity spaces and a geotechnical and remediation plan prior to development approval.

The applicant team said they had revised building massing following the Design Review Committee (DRC) feedback to create greater continuity along North Cache Street and to move basement parking away from the plume area. Brad Wexep, identifying himself as a project representative for Mogo Capital, said the design changes and DRC recommendations produced a "better project" and that the team had validated housing‑credit and LSR calculations with staff.

Two subjects generated the most scrutiny from commissioners and the public: contamination monitoring and the alley loading/access plan. Amy Kershaw of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance asked the commission to include staff‑recommended conditions addressing contamination and to require that an updated traffic study follow county transportation‑study guidelines. In public comment, another speaker noted the applicant is building other housing projects in the valley and said a third‑party traffic analysis would be prepared.

On contamination, staff and the applicant described ongoing environmental analysis. Valentine noted the project team had supplied a geotechnical and environmental report and would bring a remediation plan and any required DEQ (state environmental agency) coordination to the development plan stage. Commissioners asked whether the town or DEQ would require long‑term monitoring after construction; staff said DEQ is the technical regulator for petroleum‑related contamination and that remediation plans and monitoring requirements will be developed in that permitting process and submitted with the development‑plan package.

Commissioners also questioned how loading and deliveries would operate where a hotel’s service and deliveries are planned on the west side of an alley while the development’s residential Building A fronts the east side of the same alley. Several commissioners asked the applicant to further study alternate loading configurations or time‑of‑day delivery restrictions to limit noise and activity near residential entries, and to document how common areas, trash storage and snow storage would be managed if ownership of residential units is later separated from hotel ownership.

Other technical items: staff reported parking calculations changed modestly (staff noted a small reduction in unit counts and a drop from about 112 to 109 keys in one revision), the project shows opportunities for mechanical stacker parking and for on‑site parking if a requested reduction is not approved, and the DRC recommended cohesive materials and stepped upper floors on north Cache to reduce perceived massing.

Action taken: the commission voted to recommend approval of Sketch Plan P204‑170 to the town council, subject to the conditions in the staff report dated March 19, 2025. The item was scheduled for town council consideration on April 21.

What’s next: the applicant will continue design work and must submit a full development‑plan application that addresses the staff conditions, the geotechnical/remediation plan and any traffic‑mitigation requirements before the town council takes final action.