A temporary moratorium imposed Tuesday on county development likely will kill a proposal for 500 new homes in southern South Park, a Teton Meadows representative said.

The Teton County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 to halt several types of development applications until Dec. 31 or when updates to the Jackson/Teton County Comprehensive Plan are adopted, whichever is first. Commissioners Hank Phibbs, Ben Ellis and Leland Christensen voted in favor of the measure, while Bill Paddleford and Andy Schwartz voted against.

The moratorium means that Teton Meadows Ranch, a proposal for 400 deed-restricted units and 100 market homes, likely will die because a contract to purchase the property will expire before the moratorium is lifted, the developer’s attorney Robbin Levy said. Developer James Reinert hasn’t been able to negotiate an extension with Roger Seherr-Thoss, who owns the 288-acre parcel, Levy said

“We’re very disappointed in this ruling,” Levy said. “This raises questions about due process. They could have done this to us a year ago, and they didn’t.”

Reinert and his Sequoia Development first submitted the application in August and later incorporated Jackson Hole Community Housing Trust as a partner. The idea of a moratorium didn’t surface until March.

“They let us go forward and spend a lot of money and a lot of time and go through a lot of heartache,” Levy said. “They let us go until we were possibly one day away from a decision. The by-product result is killing 400 work-force housing units.”

After they voted Tuesday, Teton Meadows representatives quickly left commissioners’ chambers. South Park neighbors and other opponents of Teton Meadows smiled and chatted with one another. A few clapped.

“Clearly, the commissioners were inclined to deny Teton Meadows Ranch because of its noncompliance with the land-development regulations and comp plan,” said Rich Bloom, who’s been outspoken in favor of the moratorium and against Teton Meadows. “The community is left with an unclear message. I would ask the commission to clarify how they feel about Teton Meadows.

“It’s been unfairly classified as referendum on affordable housing,” he said of the Teton Meadows plan. “We’ve always said it should be reviewed as a proposal not in compliance. I hope the commissioners clarify that for community understanding.”

Commissioners will still meet at 6 p.m. today at Snow King Resort in the Teton Room for the scheduled hearing on Teton Meadows because it was too late to cancel the meeting when the moratorium was enacted. Commissioners may take public comment and could offer their opinions on Teton Meadows’ application.

Because the moratorium includes a clause allowing for “reasonable exceptions,” there is a chance that Teton Meadows could request to be excluded from the freeze during today’s meeting.

Tuesday’s moratorium only applies to parcels larger than 20 acres and bans the use of the planned-unit-development-for-affordable-housing zoning district, planned residential developments and zone changes that would increase the number of homes allowed on a property from what is currently allowed.

The moratorium discussion began in March after the county received two requests to consider plans for about 600 new homes south of Jackson. Owners of the Jackson Hole Hereford Ranch are considering rezoning up to 80 acres of ranch land just west of Jackson Hole High School. That could accommodate 299 dwellings.

The other potential developers – Three Ranchers LLC, made up of Lucas, Von Gontard and Robertson family members – would add as many as 315 new homes through a three-part land deal. Combined, the three proposals could put more than 1,000 new homes in South Park.

The fates of all three projects are now uncertain.

Late Tuesday, county planning staff was checking regulations to find out what will happen to Teton Meadows’ application. Some staffers thought that because Reinert doesn’t own the property, the development proposal will revert to Seherr-Thoss upon the contract-for-purchase expiring, unless Reinert pulls it from the planning department.

Seherr-Thoss could then decide to pursue Teton Meadows and a planning hearing before the county commissioners once the moratorium is lifted.

Dave Larson, attorney for Three Ranchers and the Hereford Ranch family, said he doesn’t know what will happen with his clients’ projects. He also said the moratorium is an overreaction.

“I don’t think there was an emergency,” Larson said. “Each of the projects in front of them can easily be dealt with under the existing regulations. ... Commissioners have the right to deal with them in their sole and sound discretion.”

Larson called the moratorium a loss for people who make too much money to qualify for an affordable home – more than $104,344 for a couple – but too little for the free market.

“That’s the segment of the community that is probably hurt most by the moratorium just because there is no supply and no prospect of any supply in the near future,” Larson said. “As time goes by, things are just going to become more and more expensive.”

During the meeting, Schwartz said he couldn’t approve a moratorium that includes Teton Meadows because that matter should be resolved through the scheduled hearings. Yet Christensen and Phibbs said a moratorium should include all projects in the pipeline to be effective.

Ellis agreed, but said he was willing to vote on Teton Meadows before voting on a moratorium. He even proposed a motion to postpone a decision on the moratorium until after Teton Meadows’ hearing, but it failed for lack of a second.

Members of the public urged commissioners to enact the freeze immediately and include Teton Meadows.

Franz Camenzind, executive director of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, asked commissioners to go a step further and not limit the moratorium to 20 acres. Rather, he asked for a “broad-sweeping” freeze that would encompass planned-unit-development-for-affordable-housing zoning districts of all sizes.

Frank Ewing agreed saying, “I think it should be all-inclusive.”

Charlene Zuckerman said moratoriums are most effective when they include all the applications.

Barry Sibson, a Polo Ranches resident, agreed.

“It’s important that ... the citizens and the county government and planning commission get control of what is an immense area, the South Park Loop area, which is probably as large as all of Jackson,” he said. “That area will define forever what Jackson Hole is all about.”

While some viewed the moratorium as a way to preserve the scenic Seherr-Thoss meadow, others warned the property could still be developed.

County Planning Director Jeff Daugherty said the apparent defeat of Teton Meadows may not mean that valley residents prevented town-style density on the Seherr-Thoss property or elsewhere in South Park. The upcoming comprehensive plan discussions will focus on land from High School Road to the southern side of South Park Loop Road and how to develop it, he said.

That could mean a density similar to the neighboring properties, which have more than one home per acre.