"Once 83 new unrestricted dwelling units in NSP Area 1 have approved building permits, then no additional unrestricted building permits will be issued until at least 17 restricted dwelling units have received Certificate of Occupancy."
That sentence comes from Condition 1(b) of the Teton County order approving the Gill family's Northern South Park Area 1 development plan. The next line in the order matters just as much to a buyer. The condition gets recorded against every market lot of record "to inform future buyers," and it stays there until it is satisfied.
Demand alone will not set how fast the second half of those lots gets built. That depends on how fast Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Teton Area and the Jackson Hole Community Housing Trust can raise money, build homes and get those homes signed off for occupancy.
What the county approved on October 6
Teton County commissioners approved the plan 4 to 1 on October 6, 2026, as the Jackson Hole News&Guide reported. Natalia Macker, Mark Newcomb, Wes Gardner and Luther Propst voted yes. Len Carlman voted no, saying he wanted the Gill family to pay more up front for High School Road. The plan calls for 557 homes on about 74 acres of ranch land where High School Road meets South Park Loop Road. Seventy percent will be deed-restricted homes built by Habitat and the Housing Trust. Outside the county chambers, the same News&Guide article quoted landowner Nikki Gill: "This is our legacy."
The approval does not mean construction can start yet. The Gill team still has to get a grading and erosion control permit, which is normally reviewed administratively. Gill family attorney Amberley Baker told the News&Guide that groundbreaking could follow as soon as the county approves that permit. Buckrail reported on October 7 that the application for that permit had not been filed yet.
The 83-permit limit, measured against the real unit count
The 83-permit limit matters because of how many market-rate homes the plan has. The county staff report lists 386 restricted and 171 unrestricted units. Of those 171, six are existing homes under current zoning. The other 165 are new market-rate bonus units. The six existing homes in Blocks M and N fall under the standard mitigation rules and are exempt from the 83-permit limit.
| Pool | Units | Built by | Subject to the gate? |
|---|---|---|---|
| New free-market units, permits 1 to 83 | 83 | Lot owners and builders | Can proceed once restricted land is conveyed |
| New free-market units, permits 84 onward | 82 | Lot owners and builders | Waits for 17 restricted homes to be finished |
| Existing units in Blocks M and N | 6 | Existing owners | Exempt |
| Habitat homes, Blocks D, E and I | 193 | Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Teton Area | Their completions open the gate |
| Remaining restricted homes | 193 | Jackson Hole Community Housing Trust | Their completions open the gate |
Eighty-three is just over half of 165. About half of the new market-rate homes can move ahead once the land transfers. The other half cannot get permits until the nonprofits finish their first homes.
There is an earlier step as well. The order requires the Gills to convey all restricted blocks to the approved nonprofit builders before anyone can submit a building permit on an unrestricted block. So the first free-market permit waits on the land transfer, and the 84th waits until finished nonprofit homes pass inspection.
Why the timing depends on two nonprofits
County staff wrote in the September 15 report that individual block construction is "not anticipated until 3-5 years after Development Plan approval." The applicant expects no more than two restricted blocks under construction at once, and each block is estimated to take 15 to 24 months to build. Earlier this year, Baker gave the News&Guide a shorter estimate. If the plan won approval in the fall, she said, infrastructure would take about a year to start and homes would break ground about a year after that. Under either estimate, the first 17 restricted homes can only be finished after a restricted block starts and runs through a construction period the staff report puts at more than a year.
Habitat's pace is public. The News&Guide reported that the organization expects to build about 20 homes a year, which puts its share at roughly a decade. CEO Ben Johnson called that the "goal" and told the paper, "We're going to be fundraising more than we ever have." Habitat plans one duplex, with the rest of its homes in three-, four- and five-unit buildings with tuck-under parking. The homes will be 1,200 to 1,300 square feet, built as modular units somewhere else and shipped to the site. Its funding starts with a $15 million challenge grant from the Hughes Charitable Foundation, which matches other donations dollar for dollar.
The road money is tied to the restricted blocks too. The order puts the off-site High School Road transportation cost at $3,506,055 and splits it by pool:
- Free-market share: $1,314,995, which the Gills pay in cash before the first initial plat is issued and recorded.
- Blocks A, B, F, H, J and P: $1,119,704 in ten annual payments of $111,970.40, beginning when those blocks are conveyed.
- Blocks D, E and I: $342,852 per block, paid in three installments of $114,284, beginning with each block's first building permit.
If a restricted-block payment is late, the county may withhold later permits on the blocks tied to that entity's unpaid balance. A delay on a restricted block also delays the 17 completions that open the free-market gate, so a nonprofit's payment schedule ends up affecting market-rate permits too.
The order of operations
Taken together, the staff report and the order lay out this sequence:
- The county approves a grading and erosion control permit for site-wide infrastructure, and the County Engineer signs off on the East-West Connector cross section at that stage. Roads and utilities can begin once those permits are approved.
- Roads, utilities and fire-fighting water go in across the whole site before any block construction starts.
- The Gills pay the $1.3 million free-market road fee and record the initial plat.
- All restricted blocks are conveyed to the nonprofits.
- Single-family lot division is expected soon after conveyance, and owners build at their own pace. The multifamily Blocks C, K and L could be built at the same time or over many years.
- Free-market permits stop at 83 until 17 restricted homes receive certificates of occupancy.
The applicant has given no specific timeline for the unrestricted blocks. Because of step 6, it also cannot fully control one.
What a market lot carries besides the gate
The order sets other rules for the single-family blocks. Fencing is prohibited across Blocks M, N, O, P and Q. Garden fences and dog runs outside structure setbacks are the exception, and they need a special-purpose fencing exemption. Lots 17, 18, 33 and 34 in Block N, which back onto pathway easements, cannot have exclusionary fencing in their side yards. Parks 6, 7 and 8 will be owned and maintained by the future homeowners association. Pathways on private property may also become the HOA's responsibility to maintain, at the discretion of Jackson/Teton County Community Pathways. Leeks Ditch stays an open channel except where it has to be piped.
This is general information about a public county approval, not legal, tax or financial advice. Anyone weighing a lot here should confirm how these recorded conditions apply to their own situation with a real estate attorney and a title professional.
How the build-out reaches the rest of South Park
People who already live nearby will notice the construction routes first. The construction traffic management plan keeps vehicles over 26,000 pounds off High School Road during the school year. Lighter construction vehicles stay off it within 30 minutes of first-period bells at Colter Elementary, Jackson Hole Middle School and Jackson Hole High School. When the plan was discussed on October 6, Commission Vice Chair Gardner warned that "South Park Loop is going to get hit hard, really hard," according to the News&Guide. The road fees go to the county for transportation improvements in West Jackson at the commissioners' discretion. County Engineer Amy Ramage said a "minimum viable project" on High School Road would need $2.2 million.
Porter Ranch, just to the south, shows what Gill land without a workforce-housing tie looks like. It is a 79-lot, 26-acre subdivision that the county reviewed separately, and it includes no affordable homes. In a report from earlier in 2026, the News&Guide counted three homes under construction and 62 lots still for sale, priced at $700,000 to $1.2 million. The neighborhood connects to the town's water and sewer. Those numbers are a spring snapshot, not current inventory. They still show the difference. Porter Ranch homes went up as fast as owners chose to build, while the market-rate homes in Area 1 have a permit cap tied to nonprofit construction.
A few questions buyers ask
Does the 83-permit limit apply to Porter Ranch? The condition in the order covers unrestricted units in NSP Area 1. Porter Ranch was reviewed as a separate subdivision.
Is the Area 1 road fee $3.5 million? That is the total the order states. Its two listed shares add up to $3,463,255, which is $42,800 less. The county is the place to ask which figure controls.
When does the limit come off a lot's title? The order says the recorded notice stays on market lots until the condition is satisfied. That happens once at least 17 restricted homes have received certificates of occupancy.
If you're looking at northern South Park, ask early where a lot falls in the 83-permit count and how far along the nonprofits' first blocks are. Jake Kilgrow follows each approval and permit as it happens and can walk you through what the recorded conditions mean for a specific lot before you commit. Work with Jake.
