DRC asks for more ‘human’ design for proposed Virginian Lodge apartments

JACKSON, Wyo. — On Wednesday, the Town of Jackson Design Review Committee (DRC) unanimously approved a motion of continuance for a proposal to build employee apartments on the Virginian Lodge property at 750 West Broadway. The project in the proposal is in initial stages and is separate from the Housing Authority project at 90 Virginian Lane. The employee housing project would be funded privately by the owners of the Virginian Lodge.

The DRC can recommend, not recommend or ask for continuance of a presented proposal. Continuance means the applicant can make suggested changes and present the updated proposal to the committee at a later date.

Hal Hutchinson, of HH Land Strategies, LLC, began by presenting a design plan for a 32-unit apartment complex split between four buildings. Of the units, 24 would be ground-floor, one-bedroom apartments and eight would be two-bedroom apartments on a second floor. The modular buildings would have a footprint of approximately 15,000 square feet.

Committee members expressed concern around the character and design of the property, which proposes construction with a mixture of stained cedar wood, black corrugated metal and low-gloss black metal fascia. Some suggested that, since the buildings would be set back from the road, the design seemed to be treated as an afterthought.

“We wanted to have units that were clearly apartment units that were separate from the lodging use on the property,” Hutchinson explained. “And so the intent was to ensure that it looks and feels like a residential project as opposed to a lodging project. Nobody wants to live in a hotel room, or feel like they live in a hotel room.”

Committee member Dale Hoyt felt as though the design didn’t do justice, stating: “It’s saying ‘we’ve tucked some modulars in a corner.’”

Other members asked about the public space surrounding the buildings, noting that it would be nice to see the place designed to be more “human” by adding trees and common space.

In her comment, committee member Mary McCarthy emphasized that the average unit size appears to be smaller than 500 square feet. “Thirty-two units and no common space, no nice outdoor space, it just feels like we jammed a bunch of employee housing back in the corner,” McCarthy said at the meeting.

Typically, the process for a project to come to fruition is to go through the DRC and then to the Planning Commission. Final decisions regarding projects will be made either at a Town Council meeting or a Joint Meeting with both Town Council and County Commissioners present.

All submissions to the DRC must include a variety of materials, such as a summary of the purpose of the proposed project, public space included in the build, materials used and design.