JACKSON (WNE) — Central Wyoming College is a step closer to giving its Jackson branch a new home, but the finish line is still a ways off.

In a 4-0 vote Tuesday, the Teton County Board of County Commissioners agreed to rezone a lot just south of Jackson Hole High School for a new, standalone building for the community college. Commissioner Greg Epstein was absent.

It was a decision the town of Jackson had previously tabled: OK’ing lots CWC was considering for its new school for public/semi public uses, a flexible designation for government entities like the college, a Wyoming state institution.

In 2017, voters approved a $3.82 million specific purpose excise tax measure to support the purchase of land, design and construction for a new space.

The school then purchased two lots on Veronica Lane a new building, but neighbors raised questions about the area’s ability to support the facility. In November 2019 the Jackson Town Council voted to delay a decision on the rezone.

A few months later, CWC discovered the new space near South Park and switched gears.

“This particular location is perfect,” CWC-Jackson Director Susan Durfee said after Tuesday’s meeting. Though commissioners fretted about traffic management at the already-busy intersection of South Highway 89 and High School Road, as well as the potential for construction-related contamination to Flat Creek, they seemed to concur with CWC.