Sublette County elected officials unexpectedly delivered a major blow Tuesday to billionaire TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts’ yearslong ambitions to transform the Upper Hoback River area into a destination upscale resort.
In a 3-2 vote, commissioners eliminated a 2021 zoning change that carved out 56 acres of Ricketts’ Jackson Fork Ranch in northwest Wyoming for the resort.
Last week, the public learned that the Nebraskan financier had renewed his efforts to bring spas and fine dining to Bondurant — the source of considerable consternation for the small community about halfway between Pinedale and Jackson. In 2024, Ricketts halted construction on the resort, citing high costs, after county commissioners declined to waive seasonal protections for elk and moose that prevented construction during the coldest 5.5 months of the year.
The undoing of Rickett’s renewed plans came suddenly. The five-person Sublette County Board of Commissioners did not include an agenda item in its Tuesday meeting about the billionaire’s plans for an all-inclusive luxury resort. During an earlier iteration of the project, his agents likened the planned facilities to Saratoga’s Brush Creek Ranch, which charges over four figures per night.
The decision came after commissioners went into executive session, when they can discuss matters in private. They emerged toward the end of the daylong meeting, and Commissioner Doug Vickrey made a motion to “initiate the process of terminating” Ricketts’ zoning, and in turn notify the planning and zoning commission and the landowner.
There was no discussion on the matter before Sublette County Commission Chairman Lynn Bernard and Dave Stephens submitted aye votes. With Commissioners Sam White and Mack Bradley opposed, the resort zoning was rescinded.
It’s a decision that boiled down to Sublette County’s zoning and development regulations, according to Bernard. Those rules stipulate that property rezoned to accommodate resorts must undergo “substantial development” within two years or the zoning change “shall” revert.
“Because of that, it was revoked,” Bernard told WyoFile.
In revoking the zoning change, Bernard said, commissioners de facto invalidated a building permit for a lodge, restaurant and bar, a wellness/spa center, 20 guest suites, and a nearly 50,000-square-foot underground parking garage.
That permit application had been submitted in July and was approved administratively in September, the Jackson Hole News&Guide reported.
A spokesperson for Ricketts, whose family owns the Chicago Cubs, provided WyoFile with a statement on Wednesday.
“Private property rights are a cornerstone of our state, and property owners deserve clear rules, a consistent process, and confidence that their rights will be upheld,” Ricketts’ spokesperson Jessica Jaubert said.
Sublette County Attorney Clayton Melinkovich explained to commissioners earlier in the Tuesday meeting why the zoning change hadn’t already been rescinded.
“Termination is not something that happens automatically,” he said. “It has to go through a public hearing process and everything else.”
Around the time of their vote, commissioners did not discuss any hearing or public process.
But Bernard told WyoFile on Wednesday that he “absolutely” believes the commission’s change was legally sound.
“The time period on that zoning had expired,” he said.
The setback for Ricketts comes after he received some positive publicity for his conservation-oriented work under a venture called Saving Yellowstone. The billionaire, who was also in the news recently after filing a federal lawsuit alleging he was bilked out of $34 million, has repeatedly argued that developing resorts and getting wealthy tourists to understand conservation are needed to protect the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Bondurant residents who worry the businessman’s plans will run roughshod over their rural, wildlife-rich corner of Wyoming have criticized Rickett’s rationale.
“The only people who seem to be buying it are some conservationists,” Upper Hoback resident Dan Bailey said, “and that’s just bewildering that those people would drink that Kool-Aid.”
Bailey’s girding his loins for another prolonged fight over the 85-year-old Ricketts’ development ambitions. Two years ago, when construction was halted, he told WyoFile he was unconvinced that the fight was truly over, and he reiterated those views on Wednesday.
“They’ll be back,” Bailey said. “We’re not done. That’s for sure.”
Ed’s note: This story has an updated description about the resort plans.
Good decission, wildlife will profit from this decission
You an be sure he will try to buy his way out of this problem. He thinks he can buy anything.
It’s never over when it’s a billionaire trying to force his way. By the way, it’s not your state.
Maybe, just maybe people are tired of the billionaires acting like they own the country. Here’s to hoping.
We need more spine and pushback against the billionaire Yellowstone Club acquisitions.
https://www.hcn.org/articles/the-billionaires-club-at-the-center-of-americas-public-lands-fight/