The development “in effect is bringing the master plan to life,” he said.

That 2018 plan gives Targhee the ability to develop another 150,000 square feet for commercial use and “resort services.” It includes plans to renovate the Rendezvous Lodge and Trap Bar, expand the Targhee Lodge and pool and, later, further build out the Rendezvous Lodge. After that, Targhee plans to build a new hotel and restaurant, redevelop the Teewinot Lodge and build a new Sioux Lodge.

All of that is expected to happen in phases, with building duplexes, cabins, and single-family lots included in each phase.

Targhee is figuring out who will own the cabins, Gillett said, but the idea is to write requirements for the development that ensure they are rented short-term to maximize the number of skiers using them.

“I don’t want to just sell a house. You get money up front, but then you don’t get the skier visits out of it,” Gillett said. “I want the things that holistically benefit the resort over the long period of time.”

Today, Teton County officials are set to take the first step toward approving Targhee’s plans for the cabins. The Teton County Planning Commission is set to review the resort’s proposed development plan around 6 p.m. in the commissioners’ chambers at 200 S. Willow St.

There is only one item on the agenda before Targhee’s development.

Public comment will be taken both virtually and in person. To participate on Zoom, use the Webinar ID 842 3687 7671. To dial-in, use the number 1-253-215-8782. The password for both is 055260.

Targhee’s development plan and the staff report Teton County planners prepared can be found online at TinyURL.com/targheedev.

The development comes as Targhee waits for the Caribou-Targhee National Forest to release an environmental review of its plans to expand on the public land where it operates its lifts — and into nearby parts of the forest where it does not yet do so.

Grand Targhee’s base area is a private, 120-acre inholding on the western edge of the Caribou-Targhee. While the resort is accessible only by roads that pass through eastern Idaho towns such as Victor and Driggs, the land is in Alta and regulated by Teton County, Wyoming. Officials approved the resort’s master plan in 2018, which operates as county code exclusive to that resort area.

Officials on the other side of Teton Pass, however, are worried about how Targhee’s plans to become a “world-class resort destination” will impact Teton County, Idaho. The county is a community of its own, but it houses many of Jackson Hole’s workers and has been dealing with escalated housing demand, traffic and congestion through the COVID-19 pandemic. Teton County, Idaho, commissioners ordered a socioeconomic study in 2021 that found Teton County, Wyoming, would only benefit from Targhee’s expansion while Teton County, Idaho, would only see costs, primarily because of its inability to generate tax revenue to cover public expenses associated with expansion.

Gillett has called the study a “red herring,” arguing that if Targhee’s expansion doesn’t benefit Teton County for that reason, nothing does.

With 28 cabins on the table, Teton County, Idaho, sent a lengthy letter to Wyoming officials with concerns about Targhee’s proposal. It raises questions about environmental impacts and emergency response.

Teton County, Idaho, is under contract with Teton County, Wyoming, to provide initial fire/EMS response to Targhee’s base area.

The Idaho commissioners asked for a study of how the development will mesh with the wildland-urban interface, official jargon for areas near forests where wildfire risk is higher. They also asked for Targhee to refine plans for wildfire response, including developing plans for evacuation and communicating with guests and residents about fires.

“We’ve been vocal about the cost our community will bear, but I personally am worried that they’re putting the cart before the horse with these emergency management plans,” Teton County, Idaho, Commissioner Cindy Riegel told the Jackson Hole Daily.

“If you’re allowing development, designing it without those plans in place, you could be creating health and human safety concerns for the people staying up there,” Riegel said.

Riegel also argued that the way Targhee is requesting an exception to a master plan requirement prohibiting development on slopes over 30% is inappropriate. Teton County staff have said Targhee’s plans to do so will minimize impacts and found no issue with them.

Idaho commissioners have suggested that Teton County, Wyoming, could do more to offset the costs that development would impose on their state.

A handful of other officials also commented on Targhee’s proposal.

Jay Pence, Teton Basin district ranger for the Caribou-Targhee National Forest, for example, said Grand Targhee is in an area where forest officials are “highly concerned with the threat of a wildfire impacting life, property, and infrastructure values.”

He asked Teton County to “insist on a 300-foot setback from the national forest property line for all structures.”

As it stands, plans for the cabins have them more or less abutting the Caribou-Targhee forest boundary.

Teton County, Wyoming, Regional Transportation Planning Administrator Charlotte Frei argued that Targhee’s plans for 56 rather than 48 parking spots — the minimum requirement for the development — goes against the 2012 Jackson/Teton County Comprehensive Plan’s direction to develop the area as a “year-round, small-scale resort community that is pedestrian oriented.”

Teton County Planning Director Chris Neubecker has recommended approval of Targhee’s plans with nine conditions that primarily touch on building heights, Frei’s transportation recommendations, and requirements for Targhee to provide workforce housing.

Teton County, Wyoming, officials are not recommending the 300-foot setback that Pence requested.

The Planning Commission will make a recommendation to the Teton County Board of County Commissioners, which has the final say on approving or rejecting Targhee’s plans.