For the week of September 23 thru September 29, 1998  

Ketchum OKs affordable housing project

Equal numbers speak for, against


By KATHRYN BEAUMONT
Express Staff Writer

23sign.gif (7157 bytes)Project opponent Jack Corrock collected 450 signatures of residents against the Fields at Warm Springs at various sites around Ketchum over a six-day period. (Express photo by Kathryn Beaumont)

Nine months after Sawtooth Development’s original affordable housing proposal in Warm Springs was shot down by the public and city, Ketchum’s first community housing project has been given the go ahead.

After a lengthy public hearing Monday night, the Ketchum City Council approved by 3-1 Sawtooth Development’s request for the conditional use permit needed to build its 41-unit planned unit development, called the Fields at Warm Springs.

The council’s change in heart over the past nine months was due to the revised proposal’s smaller size, the fact that its units will be sold rather than rented and, perhaps most importantly, the fact that no city money will be involved.

Fourteen of the 41 units will be set aside as deed-restricted, under Ketchum affordable housing guidelines. The developers plan to sell these units for $135,000, while the market-rate units in the development may go for twice that amount.

Candidates for the affordable units would be Blaine County employees making less than the median county income, meaning a single person who makes less than $40,000 per year, or a family of four with a combined annual income of less than $57,200.

In evaluating the conditional use permit, the council needed to determine whether the benefits of the 14 affordable units and 12,500 square feet of usable open space justified waivers for increased density and lot size.

While none of those who spoke in opposition to the project condemned affordable housing, they argued that a project of this density did not belong on 2.14 acres of land.

"I submit you are running roughshod over the requirements of the local planning act," said attorney Ed Lawson, who has been representing the Four Seasons Homeowners’ Association, a condominium development across the street.

P&Z member Rod Sievers, who cast the lone vote against the project at the planning and zoning commission level, told the council why he did so.

"Who really benefits from this?" he said. "Those who buy the 14 units under market value benefit; the city of Ketchum has its units; the Schernthanners, who were paid over market value for their land; the [Ketchum] Housing Commission because they can say they’ve done something. What about the taxpayers? What do they get? Don’t their voices count?"

Warm Springs resident Jack Corrock presented the council with a petition of 450 signatures of those who opposed the project. He said he had collected the signatures in just six days.

"We couldn’t find anyone in favor of this thing," Corrock said.

Those who spoke in favor of the project, however, said not only had the project met the requirements of the PUD ordinance, but that the need for affordable housing in the community overwhelmingly justified increased density.

Ketchum District ranger Kurt Nelson told the council he had trouble luring full-time employees to the ranger district because of the daunting cost of housing in Ketchum.

"Currently none of our employees reside in the city of Ketchum," he said. "It clearly is a problem for us as a small business. Our average salary is $30,000, and these are professionals with degrees."

David Kipping, a member of the Blaine County Housing Authority, said density and affordable housing are inextricably intertwined.

"Density is the affordable in affordable housing," he said.

Ultimately, the council agreed.

Councilman Dave Hutchinson said he considers the Four Seasons--which borders the Fields at Warm Springs--as a model for what developments should look like in terms of density and open space, and that the Fields at Warm Springs will be even less dense than its next-door neighbor.

"I can read the plans and look at the Four Seasons," he said. "This is a pretty good project. I wasn’t pleased with the first project, but I’ve never seen a more responsible developer privately or publicly in how they’ve responded to the public."

Hutchinson also said he, too, is a Warm Springs resident, and that while he is not concerned about a decline in his property values, he is concerned about a community that someday might no longer have a service and middle-management population to sustains it.

"This is not a retirement community," he said.

Hutchinson closed his statements, saying briefly, "I think that some of you need to learn how to share."

Councilmembers Randy Hall and Sue Noel also voted in favor of the conditional use permit.

Hall, who said many of his own employees spend the summer camping out, cited the recent Ketchum phone survey, which indicated that affordable housing was the number one concern of the community.

Noel said she thought the development met all conditional use permit criteria.

Councilwoman Chris Potters voted against the project. She said she did not want to betray the trust put in her by residents to uphold zoning laws.

"We can’t be everything to everybody and still maintain the small-town attitude we came here for," she said.

While Mayor Guy Coles did not vote on the project, he did express his support for it.

"I’ve lived here longer than most people in this room," he said. "I love this community. My duties are the health, safety and welfare of this community, and I’m in favor of this project."

The project is still undergoing design review by the planning and zoning commission, which could approve the design at its Monday meeting.

 

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