Victor Council Denies Market Street Rezone 3-0

VICTOR -- The Victor City Council voted 3-0 on April 8 to deny the Market Street rezone, a proposed mixed-use rental development on 7.4 acres between Highway 33 and Grand Teton Brewing, overriding a staff recommendation and Planning and Zoning Commission approval. Councilmembers cited unresolved questions about wastewater infrastructure and a comprehensive plan they say needs updating before the city approves more density.

The project, Market Street Subdivision, would have rezoned the triangular parcel from Rural Cluster to a split of RM-2 Residential Multifamily and CX Commercial Mixed Use. The preliminary plan called for about 90 rental units, a phased mix of townhomes and apartments in two- and three-story buildings, plus 7,000 square feet of small-scale ground-floor retail. A new public street, Market Street, would connect Baseline Road northwest toward the Grand Teton Brewing property, with a community park, a Teton Valley Trails and Pathways corridor along Highway 33, and a collaborative gathering space with Grand Teton Brewing.

All three councilmembers present, Amy Ross, Sue Muncaster, and Emily Sustick, voted to deny. Councilor Stacy Hulsing was absent.

"Too much, too soon, too fast"

The applicants had been working on the project for three years. Jerry Jones of MOFA Development presented alongside his business partner, Jake Durtschi of Jacob Grant Capital, and Seth Anderson of SAJ Architecture, with Jen Zung of Harmony Design & Engineering available on Zoom. The parcel, owned by East Idaho Holdings LLC, was annexed into Victor in February 2025 with Rural Cluster zoning. A FEMA conditional letter of map revision had already been secured, removing the property from the floodplain designation that had long constrained the site.

Planning Director Kim Kolner recommended approval with conditions, noting that the applicant had reconfigured the project at staff and Public Works' insistence, converting a planned private drive into a public road with a right-of-way stub to the northwest. The P&Z Commission recommended approval at its January 22 hearing, though only three commissioners were present and one was newly appointed.

During deliberation, Muncaster explained her position on the market street rezone, saying that what she heard from the public was "too much, too soon, too fast," and that she agreed. The community is asking the council to pause and allow a comprehensive plan revision with public input before approving more density on Victor's edges.

"I'm trying really hard to find a way to say yes," Muncaster said. "But I think it would be reckless of us at this point with everything that's going on with the city and the sewer."

The council found the project did not conform to the comprehensive plan, citing the site's Open Space/Greenways designation under the Victor comprehensive plan. The applicant argued that the Employment designation, which covers a portion of the site, supports CX and RM-2 zoning, citing a chart in the comprehensive plan that lists CX as a recommended zone for that designation. Kolner confirmed that CX is listed as an allowable zone in the Employment category and that the open space designation followed the FEMA floodplain, which has since been revised. The council gave more weight to the open space designation and the property's floodplain history.

Muncaster noted that she voted for the original annexation to bring the parcel under city jurisdiction rather than to greenlight density. "A couple of times I've heard that the RC zoning was a placeholder," she said. "To me, that was the most appropriate."

The council also cited the volume of multifamily housing already in Victor's pipeline and questioned whether the city needs another gathering place, given that it recently approved one on the north end of town. "Until we are sure that we've got the financing and everything ready for the new sewer plant, I am not comfortable" Muncaster said.

Infill vs. edge development

Ross read aloud a written comment from P&Z Commissioner Stephanie Dykema, who was unable to attend the January hearing where the commission voted to recommend approval.

"Pushing higher density development to the edges of town is not infill, and it doesn't set us up well long-term," Ross read from Dykema's comment. "If anything, it makes it harder to build a strong, active downtown. This is a pattern I think we need to be aware of and start moving away from."

"It's not that I think it's awful. I just think that we need to pause," Ross added, citing the unresolved wastewater situation. "There are a lot of things going on around wastewater, and I think we need to address some of those before we allow additional development."

Before the hearing opened, Ross raised process concerns about piecemeal land-use approvals. She noted she was the only councilmember to vote against the original annexation in February 2025. "Sometimes, once you take a little step, then the next little step seems really easy," Ross said. "And we end up in a position where we've taken a bunch of little steps toward a goal that we didn't necessarily want."

Workforce housing negotiation

Councilmembers and applicants spent extended time negotiating workforce housing restrictions. Staff's recommended conditions included 10% of units deed-restricted for local workforce households who live and work in Teton Valley, plus a separate 20% restriction prohibiting short-term rentals, a combined 30% restriction with no overlap between the two categories. The applicant had offered to increase the deed-restricted share to 12.5%.

Ross pushed further, proposing a combined 50% workforce housing and short-term rental restriction. Durtschi acknowledged that 50% would be "quite restrictive" but signaled willingness to negotiate, noting that he had been collaborating with the Teton Valley Joint Housing Authority on management frameworks. Jones pointed to language used in other jurisdictions in which units that remain unfilled for 90 days can revert to the open market, then reset upon lease renewal.

Kolner clarified that Victor's definition of workforce housing is not income-restricted. It applies to anyone who lives and works in the valley. The short-term rental threshold is leases of fewer than 30 days.

Mayor and administrator urge developers to stay

Despite the denial, Mayor Frohlich told the applicants he hoped they would continue pursuing the project. "My ask to you guys and my hope is that you stick with this project," Frohlich said. He warned that if the current developers walk away, "the land gets sold, and somebody comes in, and there's a different makeup up here, and we get something that's much more high-density with no open space, and they don't care about local businesses."

Frohlich said he believed the project aligned with the comprehensive plan and praised the developers' community engagement, noting their collaboration with Grand Teton Brewing, TVTAP, and the Joint Housing Authority. "We don't see that every day," he said.

City Administrator Jeremy Besbris echoed the mayor's comments on the Market Street rezone, suggesting the right density for the site is "somewhere in between" three single-family lots and 90 rental units. "I also don't think anybody wants to see it developed into three single-family lots," Besbris said.

The Valley Signal reviewed the full application packet. Quotes are from the April 8, 2026, public hearing at Victor City Hall, transcribed from the meeting recording. Application numbers: LU2025-17 (rezone) and SD2025-16 (short plat).