Tangled in litigation, Jackson housing project construction delayed
JACKSON (WNE) — An East Jackson affordable housing project is delayed because of a lawsuit filed by a neighbor in January.
The Bridger-Teton National Forest and Jackson Hole Community Housing Trust had planned to start building homes near the Nelson Drive trailhead this spring.
That isn’t happening.
That neighbor, Michael Clement, an attorney who lives near the proposed development, had challenged the plans, arguing in part that forest officials and nonprofit leaders can’t build homes on public land for people who don’t work for the U.S. Forest Service. Clement and other neighbors had also criticized what they saw as a lack of transparency.
The lawsuit is ongoing, though United States District Judge Alan B. Johnson signed off on a notice to dismiss the Housing Trust from the lawsuit on Feb. 3, according to court documents. Clement is still suing the Forest Service and has previously said he voluntarily dismissed his case against the Housing Trust because the Trust would be “bonded” by the court’s decision.
The Housing Trust can “mobilize” within 60 days if it prevails through the legal proceedings, Cresswell said.
The project reentered the limelight after about a decade of planning after the Housing Trust asked the Jackson Town Council and Teton County Board of County Commissioners to pay about $4 million each. The money would allow both the town and county the right to rent six homes each.
Town councilors agreed to the deal, despite opposition from a panel of affordable housing advisers. County commissioners were, like the housing advisers, wary of the project’s price tag, and in March, voted against providing funding.
Commissioners had said the Housing Trust’s price was not fair market value and that buying into the project could be construed as making a donation to support it, which is a violation of Wyoming law.
This story was published on June 6, 2026.
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