For the week of August 5 thru August 11, 1998 |
Ohio Gulch subdivision approvedBy ALYSON WILSON As far as residential development is a "you scratch my back and Ill scratch yours," endeavor, an Ohio Gulch project made the Blaine County Commissioners itch. Blaine Countys planned unit development ordinance requires "superior design" in a project asking for density bonuses allowed in planned unit developments. In the case of Bluegrouse Ridge, a 79-acre, 25-lot project between Ketchum and Hailey and east of State Highway 75, commissioners were not initially convinced of this superiority, though they were eventually swayed after three hours of give-and-take negotiations. The applicant, Seabord Development, asked for the right to build three extra homes beyond what current zoning allows. To earn this bonus, and win final plat approval, Brian McCoy, representative developer, presented commissioners with a list of 11 community amenities showing "superior design" to earn the extra lots. Only one of the 11 amenities caught the commissioners eye as a community benefit: a plan to move power lines away from Heatherlands, Valley Club and Sundance residences, which involved arranging complex easements and funding. "I consider the relocation an extremely powerful and costly amenity," Commissioner Len Harlig said, adding a letter from Idaho Power confirmed all the land easements for this part of the project were in place. Perhaps unfortunately for the Bluegrouse cause, relocating the power lines was not enough. Commissioner Mary Ann Mix figured the type of road impacts the county deserved from the developer looked more like $897.15 than the $750 donation originally estimated, based on a widely used impact formula. Commissioner Dennis Wright chimed in with a request that Bluegrouse developers pay $3,765 for county school bus services up front to fund driving the 20 to 40 kids who could live in the project in the future. Wright also asked that a $6,500 payment be made to the Blaine County Sheriffs Office to cover what he figured was an annual police protection cost of $260 per residence. His third, and final, suggestion to donate a one-year starting salary of $28,000 for a new teacher, was eventually abandoned. "I dont profess there to be an enormous amount of scientific thought behind this, but there is some rational thought," Wright said. Wright added that he expects the developer to buy into the tax base thats already been built up in the county, as one would expect a new partner to do in a business. "Your taxes go to maintenance of the base thats already been built up," Wright reasoned. McCoys interpretation differed. "I think its a pretty loosey-goosey kind of analysis," he said. "There certainly cant be an impact until there are some houses up there." The commissioners eventual approval of the Bluegrouse final plat--power lines, a residents park, a bike path and all--was unanimous.
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