Plans for 28 units of employee housing near the The Chapel of the Transfiguration in Grand Teton National Park have prompted criticism from people who say the development would be too close to one of the park’s most important cultural icons.

Three people with ties to the park, all of whom spoke on the condition they could remain anonymous, also said the current park administration is relying on an outdated environmental study for the project.

The proposal would include roughly seven two-story quadruplex buildings adjacent to and among the existing residential housing at Moose. Preliminary sketches from a 1991 environmental study show some of the buildings directly to the south of the chapel across the chapel access road.

The sketches show plants used as screening between the houses and the chapel. The Obama administration has allocated $13.2 million for housing, which Grand Teton hopes to apply to this project.

Grand Teton Superintendent Mary Gibson Scott said plans are about 30 percent complete, and construction is set to begin in spring or summer. She said she isn’t sure exactly how close the nearest homes will be to the chapel.

One of the plan’s anonymous critics said that more employee housing is necessary in the park but a structure near the chapel is ill-advised.

“It is such a historic building, and it was there way before the park was,” the source said. “People come there in droves. Housing nearby “would take away from the contemplative nature of the chapel and the solace it provides.”

The source also said that conditions have changed since the environmental study in 1991, including the return of grizzly bears in the southern end of the park.

“The science is just old,” the critic said. “The science and the cultural landscape is being ignored.”

Another source said the two-story buildings would look “obnoxious.”

“This just seems extreme,” that critic said. “I think the view coming down from Windy Point is going to change dramatically. It’s going to stand out like a sore thumb. It is very sad.”

“It would be nice if it was done with a little more public comment,” the person continued. The chapel, which was built in 1925 and is owned by Episcopal Church in Jackson Hole, is part of a historic district in the park that includes Menor’s Ferry.

A third critic said the housing comes after other projects like the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center and the new pathway brought fresh impacts to the Moose community.

“When we look at the cumulative effects of so much nonstop construction in the Moose area, we need to say time out,” the source said. “We need to think about this. A lot of us feel that this development is too much for that area.”

“The development of so much high-density housing just on the other side of the road to the chapel is of great concern to all of us who love that area and love that chapel,” the source said.

Scott said Grand Teton has been in “dire need” of 50 to 60 housing units for years. The park, she said, subsidizes 33 apartments in Jackson for its employees at a cost of roughly $300,000 a year, or roughly 22 percent of its annual operating budget.

“I recognize that change is hard,” she said. But “we’re very lucky to get this construction funded.”

Scott said the lack of housing in the park, and the high cost of housing in town, makes it difficult to recruit and retain employees.

“I had about 10 people decline a job offer for one position because of lack of housing,” she said. “There aren’t many options left.”

“Obviously, we’re very concerned about the views” near the chapel,” Scott continued.

Scott defended the use of the 1991 environmental study, saying her staff reviewed the document and found it adequate. She said screening between the new housing and the chapel will likely be part of the plan.

Scott called the church a “great neighbor.” The chapel “is a wonderful asset to have in the Moose area,” she said.

Father Ken Asel, rector of the Episcopal Church in Jackson Hole, called the chapel a treasure.

“We are grateful to the people who had the foresight to keep [the chapel as part of the church] for more than 80 years,” he said. “We also, as a church, recognize the importance of more affordable housing in the community.”

“We are confident that the Park Service, which has always been a very good neighbor to us, will work with us to maintain the pristine view and environment of the The Chapel of the Transfiguration.

Sara Needles, Cultural Resources Division administrator for the State of Wyoming, said she has not completed a review of the project.