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Teton County Land Development Code Amendments – Workshop

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A workshop has been underway to redline several items in the Teton County Land Development Code (LDC). This review and workshop is ongoing, stay tuned. Please note that much of the information below is an interpretation of the March 12th Planning and Zoning meeting, always verify information with Teton County, Idaho and the most recently published Land Development Code. Just because items below are listed, does not mean that they will be amended. Items that were redlined in the review document (linked here) are in BOLD below.

Teton County has noticed grammatical errors in general errors from public and county staff. Two work sessions were held to review those items with the planning and zoning commission in January 2024 and the county commissioners in March of 2024.

– inaccurate numbers and citations
– table revisions edits in clarifications
– confusion as to when permits are needed
– beekeeping
– ADUs including ADUs in the IR zone (When the new land development code was passed a previous amendment was missed allowing up to two attached ADUs in the IR zone district
– application procedures, land division review and short plat errors
– scenic overlay changes

Notes on the most discussed topics are listed below.

Setbacks
A red line was made with respect to uncovered or unenclosed porches or debts awnings etc that may extend into a required front or side setback up to 2 ft or up to 6 ft into a rear setback. Previously unclosed patios, decks, balconies, porches and so forth were able to encroach into a side or rear setback up to 10 ft. This is likely to avoid issues relative to properties with small setbacks.

Beekeeping
Commercial beekeeping is now defined as 16 hives or larger and discussion about not requiring commercial permits for fewer than 16 hives. Further clarification on what defines a hive (a box, or a stack) was recommended.

Campgrounds
Campgrounds were further defined as campsites with individual water, sure, and or electrical hookups for 2 to 60 tents, recreational vehicles, cabin sites, or travel trailers.

Accessory Dwelling Unit, Attached
Redlines were added in the IR Zone district to accommodate two attached units as an ADU, a code update previously approved prior to the new code, but not included in the final revision to the new code, an inadvertent oversight. The maximum size of the ADU shall not exceed 1500 ft² for either one or two units. The applicant will need to provide verification of wastewater treatment system based on Teton counties septic capacity evaluation form. Applicant is responsible for any fees associated with reviews. ADUs may not be short-term rented in the IR Zone district.

Employee Housing
A controversial element suggested in the code was that the number of employees per unit shall not exceed the number of bedrooms. Planning and zoning commissioners argued that this standard should be limited by fire code requirements or square footage requirements by other entities. *This seemed to be of the greatest concern for the planning and zoning board. Discussion was made to strike this and revert to the septic capacity limits.

Application Subject to Final Decision by the Administrator
As noted below, Scenic Corridor Reviews was added to the list of items that may be at the discretion of the Administrator, more on this is reviewed below.
Temporary Uses
Limited Uses
Agricultural Land Divisions
Sign Permits
Scenic Corridor Reviews
Boundary Line Adjustments, and
Modifications to a Temporary Use

Temporary Uses – Expiration and Revocation
Temporary use permits may not be used in place of a special use permit for an ongoing use – effectively limiting anything more than 180s consecutive days to a special use permit.

Short Plat Land Divisions
The review procedures for the short plat land division process were changed

Preliminary Plat Review
A review criteria was added stating impacts presented from any studies requested related to natural resource overlays, economic impacts, or traffic studies.

Expiration
The application for final plat must be submitted within (previously 36) 24 months of the date of the BOCC’s final decision on the preliminary plat.

Floodplain
Floodplain requirements were amended to be aligned more closely with FEMA requirements.

Grading and Drainage
Amendments were made to the grading and drainage section to add requirements but also intended to reduce the number of permits for special work running through the county. Concern about existing code language including requirements for grading and drainage permits when driveways are elevated more than 6” from existing grade were questioned by the Planning and Zoning Commissioners. Development of an agricultural exempt building, as determined by the building official may now require a grading and drainage permit was also in question.

Riparian Buffers – General Development Standards
Additional language was added to general development standards for any development activity within riparian buffers.

Wildfire Hazard Areas
Small modifications to fuel brakes were discussed and Planning and Zoning Commissioners suggested professional opinions before implementing further changes.

Scenic Resource Protection
*This was an important aspect of my consideration based on special requirements for those close to scenic corridors including State Highways and Ski Hill Road. A general statement was added in applicability that Permits to develop within the scenic corridor may be approved administratively if all development standards are met. At the discretion of the planning administrator, any applications that do not fully meet the standards will require a public meeting to review the application and the planning and zoning commission who will act as the decision-making body.

Submittals
Additional submittals in the section were added for site plans, applications, including the latest recorded deed to a property, affidavits of legal interest if applicable, and landscaping plan including height of landscaping and plant species.

Summary
The Planning and Zoning moved to recommend approval with conditions with a condition to strike the redline limit on employee housing occupancy and continue discussions on defensible space and grading and erosion.

But… That Lot is Smaller!

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I know I have written about this before, and I’m sure there is an article buried in the archives harping on the same issues here, but I think it’s an important topic.

Whether you are a Seller looking to value your own land, or a Buyer looking to acquire land of your own in the Tetons, understanding what impacts value is extremely important. This comes up time and again, particularly when it comes to the size of a parcel when compared with another. While the size of a parcel can obviously have an impact on value, it may not always be as much as you think. As an example, the difference in value of a 2.5 acre parcel compared with a 3.2 acre parcel (despite a 20%+ difference) will often be negligible. To further elaborate the example, the value of a 1 acre parcel adjacent to a 2.5 acre parcel in the same development may not only be negligible, but in many cases the smaller parcel could carry significantly more value. With that being said, let’s go through my list of value considerations when comparing parcels or lots that are otherwise “like in kind”, such as those in the same development, or in nearby developments.

In particular order, and of most significance to least in terms of my opinion of value, take a look, below.

1: View. While I wouldn’t necessarily always put this attribute on top, it is often of great consideration, particularly in subdivisions comprising 1-5 acre parcels, which is a typical size throughout the county. A parcel with view protection by way of building envelopes, terrain, roadways or otherwise can have significantly more value than one with some type of obstruction, or potential for obstruction. This can become even more important when it comes to Teton views.

2: Location. I’m not necessarily talking about location inside of a particular area, but location compared with another property sale or listing. A parcel adjacent to a main county or state roadway would often be considered of lesser value when compared with one nearby that might have more privacy. Location considerations can also come in the form of nearby features, which leads me to the next point.

3: Features. As indicated above, features and location often correspond with one another. A row of trees, a fire suppression pond, a berm, canal or any number of property features (which don’t necessarily need to be on the properties themselves) can impact value or bring added value.

4: Subdivision Attributes. While the property that one might be investigating may not even be in a subdivision, the chances are likely that one in the market for a building site is going to be looking at properties that are. However, not all subdivisions are created equally. Some offer advantages such as paved roads or favorable covenants and restrictions. In many cases, properties with minimal restrictions or no restrictions at all can bring more value than one with firm design criteria or subdivision restrictions. On the flip side, a development with great quality as a result of a well-organized homeowner’s association with robust design guidelines can also create an advantage compared with another nearby development that does not. These considerations can come in many different shapes and sizes. Another great example is rental restrictions.

5: Environmental or Adjacent Property Considerations. Examples can be wide-ranging, but might include high ground water which could prohibit certain construction types or add cost to construction methods, nearby factors such as farm equipment or older homes, and so on. The list can go on from here, but like many of the other considerations above, can also dovetail with some of these other listed items.

6: Size. Last, but not necessarily always least as I prefaced in the beginning of this article, size. I hope this article has made it easier to understand why acreage and its impact on value can be deceiving. Remember that a larger parcel often carries the same benefits with respect to flexibility and rights that a smaller property may have. If you’ve read many of my other articles, you’ll know that typically when it comes to subdivision parcels, most properties can accommodate a single family home and guest quarters, whether it’s 1 acre or 100 acres. Further, splitting land can challenging and oftentimes impossible. Teton County’s land development code does not provide opportunities for additional dwelling units without specific and rare zoning considerations. While size can definitely have an impact on value, it needs to be significant enough to the point that it may no longer be comparable with another property. These limitations on smaller parcels could include room for livestock, limitations on building a barn, or providing ample space for a detached guest house.

Rental Analysis – How do I understand Rates and Projections?

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There is a lot to unpack here, and it’s important to know that rental markets change extremely quickly in the scheme of things. While COVID played a significant role in the short-term rental industry and our market locally, the long-term rental industry has been evolving at a fast pace as well. I’ve made some market predictions about both industries over the years and despite the outcome one thing is for sure, you don’t necessarily rely on what you hear today, because it’s inevitably (almost) always yesterday’s news.

Valuation
When it comes to valuing real estate, real estate agents (not appraisers and not offering appraisals) and appraisers use similar methods which include different types of valuation. The easiest, and most common is the comparable sale method. We essentially adjust the sales price of comparable properties based on differences between the property we are valuing and the property that has actually sold. Obviously markets change, so we generally don’t look back further than 6 or 12 months. The sales information is normally available mostly as a courtesy of the multiple listing service, a database of sales activity stored by local Realtor associations. Since Idaho is a non-disclosure state, counties often find difficulty valuing property for the purpose of tax assessment, so the public data is often skewed.

Depending on the area, rental data may be collected by a multiple listing service. However, in our area, it is not. The reason for this is based on several factors, but in my opinion it is primarily because Idaho does not require licensure for property managers. For this reason, property managers in the Teton Valley area are generally not members of listing services or Realtor associations, so they do not record the data. Even in Wyoming where property management does require a real estate license, much of the data goes unrecorded. So, how is the data tracked? Depending on whether we are talking about short-term or long-term rentals, there is some data that might be available, but often, you need to take it with a grain of salt.

Short-Term Rental Analysis
Much like the Zillow “Zestimate”, there are “data mining” companies and tools available that can help generate valuations even without multiple listing service data. Because Idaho is a non-disclosure state, Zillow does not have access to sales data. They do, however, have access to listing price data. Presumably when a property sells (even though Zillow may not have access to the actual sales price), they can make some assumptions based on market conditions, how long the property was on market before it sold and other metrics to estimate (or zestimate…) the sales price to help generate the “Zestimate”. There are similar tools available in the short-term rental industry available such as AirDNA and other data providers that are able to collect data. While I’m not an expert on AirDNA, my assumption is that they collect data from their own subscribers that report information, as well as data they receive from some of the marketplace giants like Airbnb and VRBO. I also assume that this data may be skewed based on what they receive. If it’s just a blocked calendar, one probably should not assume that it is necessarily a paying guest since it could certainly be a homeowner blocking their own calendar for personal use. Even though this data may in some instances be conservative, this is my best guess as to why we often find AirDNA provides data that may be unattainable in the real world (here in Teton Valley).

Long-Term rental analysis
This one is even more challenging. Not only are property managers not typically a member of the multiple listing service, but they rarely collaborate. This, coupled with the seasonality of long-term rentals (and short-term rentals, for that matter), can create some volatile expectations for both investors and tenants. Many years ago before the market hardly began to improve after the fallout in 2008, I distinctly recall many conversations with those trying to prepare studies and gathering data in order to do so. Similar to my life today, I was completely underwater trying to provide this data as a courtesy, often off the top of my head. While I’m generally pretty good at doing so, and can spit out fairly accurate information, it’s unlikely that any of the data was extremely scientific when it came to absorption, rates, and so on. While short-term rentals at least have some available information that might point to market conditions such as National software providers like Airbnb or VRBO, the local rental market does not. As a result, long-term tenants often find themselves jumping from property manager to manager and newspaper ad to marketplace listing to get a grasp on inventory, or lack thereof. I will give a shout out and link below a great effort set forth by the Community Resource Center of Teton Valley. They (painstakingly I’m sure) canvas the most well-known sources for long-term rental listings throughout the community and compile them into one list. It’s not perfect, and not up to date to the minute, but it’s pretty darn good.

The bottom line? When it comes to understanding rental markets in Teton Valley, trust your local professionals. While Realtors have a pretty good handle on most things around here (really, the local industry is lucky to have such a hardworking, professional and honest group) not all of them are heavily involved with property management. The best advice that I can give is to trust local property management companies. Similar to our group of real estate professionals in the area, all of the property managers in Teton Valley are extremely well versed and honest. Since I’m listing shout-outs (and yes, I do have an interest at stake here), Kerstyn at Teton Valley Property Management is amongst the very best.

Community Resource Center of Teton Valley

Teton Valley Property Management

Shared Wells, Are They Legal In Idaho?

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I’m going to call this a “read at your own risk” article based on limited knowledge of the subject, but I also feel the need to provide the data as it is so much different than what we have historically understood. The topic? Shared Wells.

Historically, multiple property owners have (or maybe thought they had) the ability to share one well with multiple homes. There is/was always a limit as to the number of homes which the Department of Environmental Quality would be involved for water monitoring. A separate entity that controls water in the State of Idaho, The Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR) position on shared wells was that most of the water would be returned to the aquifer, and a shared well between multiple homes was really no different than each home having an individual well as long as the usage did not exceed the state’s limitation for water usage for domestic water for each parcel without water rights, 13,000 gallons per day including up to 1/2 acre of landscaping.

Recently, however, an amended Snake River Basin moratorium for issuance of new water rights has created some challenges when it comes to shared well systems. A byproduct was (I assume inadvertently) prohibiting new water rights for shared wells. Since one parcel would be sharing a well with other unrelated parcels, legally, that apparently requires an additional water right with minimum CFS (Cubic Feet per Second) or diversion rate requirement to provide sufficient water to the additional homes. Since new water rights are not being issued, technically, in order to legally have a shared well, these owners would need to find an additional groundwater right that meets the CFS requirements or find a way to mitigate water from other areas, essentially by drying up other acreage.

Historically, many communities and municipalities have been able to share wells, but that would require municipal or domestic water rights. Since water rights are so valuable in Idaho, new developments with shared well systems that are not a part of an existing system or municipal system may become challenging, and that unfortunately trickles down to small systems including one to three homes sharing wells for the purpose of efficiency.

Stay tuned on this topic and (of course) do your own research on this contentious matter.

My data and source for this article was my interpretation of a conversation with an employee at the Idaho Department of Water Resources on September 20th, 2023.

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