Purpose of this Page:
This page provides a summary of information about potential development of following:
- Tract 3 (East of HWY 89)
- River Crossing (formerly Jackson Hole Christian Center)
Each section has been and will be updated separately as needed.
Tract 3 (East of HWy 89):
Updated April 3, 2009
The HOA Board has been approached by local developers, Kasey Mateosky and Scott Shepherd, indicating they have an option to purchase the area of Rafter J lying to the east of Hwy 89 known as Tract 3 (75 acres). This area encompasses the existing Rafter J RV Storage area (Lot 335) and the plot of land on which the water storage tanks are located. They indicated they were interested in developing a business park on the relatively small portion of the land that is sufficiently horizontal to allow the development. Tract 3 is presently owned by the Rafter J Ranch Partnership and not by the Association. The business park would consist of light industrial business similar to those located in the South Park Service Center.
Their original presentation located the business park to the north of the RV Storage area but would involve either an easement through the RV Storage Area or a rather severe (and expensive and unsightly) cut into the hillside to gain access to the business park. The easement through the RV Storage Area would result in the loss of several (8-12) storage area lots, would complicate security fencing of the Storage Area, and would mean that everyone going to and from the business park would drive by the RV Storage Area. The Directors were not supportive of any of these consequences and subsequently suggested a land swap in which the developers would relocate the Rafter J RV Storage Area into the area north of the existing location (instead of developing the business park there) so that the business park could be developed in the location of the existing RV Storage Area. The developers thought this was a good idea and have developed plans for how the new RV Storage Area would look. After presenting their plans to the Rafter J HOA Directors and to the Rafter J Design Review Committee for comments and suggestions, they have provided a draft layout of the new RV Storage Area. There would be approximately the same number of storage lots (possibly a few more) compared to the present layout, but they would paved, lined, and all would be usable. (Currently approximately 6 current lots are too narrow for practical use.)
The developers would create the new RV Storage Area which would be paved and the spaces lined. After discussion with the Rafter J ISD Directors, the developers would also install a new water line running from near the Rafter J Office to the water tanks so that there would be a dedicated water supply line to the tanks and dedicated water lines from the tanks to the distribution system. (The current arrangement has only one water line from the tanks to the area of the Pitch Fork Drive cul de sac where it intersects with the supply line from the pumps and the distribution system. In high use conditions, the current arrangement provides a marginally low time for the Chlorine the water is treated with for bacteria to mix with the water.) After the business park property and the new RV Storage Area property have been delineated, the developers have expressed a desire to transfer title to the remaining portion of Tract 3 to the HOA.
At the February Board of Directors Meeting, the Directors presented the developers a list of conditions that needed to be addressed for the project to move forward. This list included a requirement (in the opinion of the Rafter J Attorney) that the usage of the RV Storage Area specified in the CC&Rs had to be revised which required an amendment to the CC&Rs approved by 65% of the members of the Association. The developers considered the successful passage of an amendment changing the lot usage to be virtually unattainable and notified the Board of Directors at their March meeting that they intended to abandon this approach and return to their original plans of locating the business park in the area north of the existing RV Storage Lot with an easement through the northeast corner of the RV Storage Lot.
River Crossing (formerly Jackson Hole Christian Center):
Updated April 28, 2010
The River Crossing church is planning numerous changes to their property in Rafter J. These changes are summarized below:
• A new Sanctuary/Performing Arts Center with seating for 658;
• A new two-story duplex for housing two permanent employees and their families;
• A new two-story building with 14 suites, some of which share bathroom facilities for temporary and seasonal employees as well as contract workers;
• The existing Sanctuary building will be converted to contain classrooms, fellowship hall, offices, and storage; although no specific plans for the remodeling are known to have been presented, either to the county or to the Rafter J Ranch Homeowner’s Association; and
• Revised parking area including the addition of parking spaces.
The church has submitted a site plan showing an overview of these changes.
These plans are presented by the church as an amendment to their 1992 Master Plan that was approved by the county in 1992. In addition, the church is requesting that the county grant a variance to the rules regarding the percentage of impervious surface allowed on the church property. They were granted the variance earlier but did not use all of the percentage allowed by that variance. They are now re-applying for the variance to be essentially incorporated into the amended master plan so that it doesn’t expire in the manner the earlier variance did.
The applications for the amendment to the master plan and for the variance regarding impervious surface percentage were presented to the county for consideration. The Teton County Planning Commission Staff reviewed the applications and recommended approval by the Teton County Planning Commission with a variety of conditions. The Teton County Planning Commission met in an open meeting on March 8 and, after hearing a number of members of the public provide both positive and negative viewpoints regarding the church in general and the application in particular, recommended approval of the amendment and the variance by the Teton County Board of Commissioners. No public comment was made by the Rafter J Ranch Homeowner’s Association Board of Directors; however, two current directors and one former director did make comments as private individuals. This application package is available on the county website and it may also be viewed in the Planning Department Office during normal business hours, Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Planning Commission approval included some additional conditions, the final wording of which is to be developed by the Planning Commission Staff and possibly other Teton County officers such as the Teton County Attorney.
This application, updated with comments since the action of the Planning Commission, was presented to the Teton County Board of Commissioners on April 20, 2010 The updated application is available; however, be advised, it is a 274-page, 16.6 MB PDF file and, depending on the speed of your internet connection, may take a considerable amount of time to download.
The Rafter J Ranch Homeowner’s Association Board of Directors generated a letter regarding this application for inclusion in the package presented to the Board of County Commissioners for their review. Four current directors and a past president attended the April 20 meeting as did several Rafter J residents. Director Paul Boillot spoke on behalf of the Rafter J Board of Directors and presented several concerns about the application. The Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners, Hank Phibbs, also expressed concern to the applicant that the plans had not been formally reviewed by the Rafter J Board and its Design Review Committee prior to submission to the County Commissioners. For a variety of reasons, the Board of County Commissioners chose to continue its consideration on the application to the next meeting of the Commissioners and requested the County Planning Staff to investigate some of the concerns and issues raised at the meeting. Rafter J has learned that the applicant has requested that the issue be continued at the May 18 Board of County Commissioners regular meeting.
The Rafter J Ranch Homeowner’s Association Board of Directors encourages anyone with an interest in this matter to send their comments to the Board of Commissioners (e-mail: [email protected]) and to attend the May 18 meeting of the Board of County Commissioners. Public comment on the issue was completed at the April 20 meeting so it is possible that additional public comment may not be accepted at the May 18 meeting.
Teton County Planning Department
PO Box 1727 Jackson, WY 83001
200 S Willow St Jackson, WY 83001 Teton
307-733-3959
e-mail: [email protected] and janderson@ tetonwyo.org.
website: http://www.tetonwyo.org/plan/
Teton County Commissioners
PO Box 3594 Jackson, WY 83001
200 S Willow Jackson, WY 83001 Teton
307-733-8094
e-mail: [email protected]
website: http://www.tetonwyo.org/bcc/
Rafter J Office
307-733-5262
e-mail: [email protected]
website: http://rafterj.org
