A proposal for a 500-unit development in South Park will go before county planners today.

It will be the Teton Meadows Ranch application’s first hearing before the Teton County Planning Commission.

Teton County’s planning staff is backing the proposal to rezone 288 acres in South Park and permit 10 times more density than currently allowed. Backing from planners included 24 conditions, one of which would require developers to increase the number of traditional affordable homes from 125 to 250.

Planners also outlined impacts the development could cause.

“Costs to the community include loss of agricultural ground and some scenic views, a minor increase in traffic and increased density in the South Park area,” Blair Leist, principal planner, wrote in a report. “However, the need for affordable housing projects in Teton County is clear.”

James Reinert’s Sequoia Development and the Jackson Hole Community Housing Trust want to build the 500 homes on 288 acres of the 336-acre Roger Seherr-Thoss property using a zoning known as a planned-unit development for affordable housing. The existing rural zoning would allow 50 homes.

Under the plan, Teton Meadows would build 275 units of “gap” housing, which would target people who have incomes or assets that preclude them from traditional affordable housing but cannot afford a home on the free market. Gap homes would have specific prices — likely between $440,000 and $740,000 — and would be allowed to appreciate at roughly 5 percent or 6 percent per year.

Another 125 homes would be built as traditional affordable units while the remaining 100 would be sold on the free market.

County planning staff said the application does not meet standards set in the affordable-housing zoning district, which requires 50 percent of a project to be restricted as affordable housing under certain county definitions, but it also called the location appropriate.

Staff wrote that 250 homes should be reserved as traditional affordable units, with 125 spread among Categories 1 through 3 (serving couples who make between $47,700 and $80,475) and another 125 spread among Categories 4 through 6 (serving couples who make between $83,475 and $149,000).

Another 100 homes could be sold on the open market, and the remaining 150 could be gap housing.

Teton Meadows representatives have said they plan to stick with their price points and their proposal for only 125 traditional affordable homes and 275 gap homes.

Since August, critics have flooded the planning department with comments about Teton Meadows. They’ve said Teton Meadows is not affordable, is too dense and is too far from town services. They also said it has inadequate road and water capacity and sets a dangerous upzone precedent. Many also argued that it should be reviewed only after the Jackson/Teton County Comprehensive Plan is revised.

To see the full staff report, visit www.tetonwyo.org.

The planning commission meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at 200 S. Willow St.