Kids ski area coming to River Run

SV Co. clears wetlands hurdle

By KATHRYN BEAUMONT
Express Staff Writer

When the River Run base area was redesigned three years ago, Sun Valley Company heeded the complaints of many skiing families that the only children’s ski program was at Dollar Mountain.

The company added a ski school and a rope tow next to River Run lift on Bald Mountain.

Unfortunately, there still was not enough room at the bottom of the lift area to accommodate all the skiers, snowboarders and ski school students who must ultimately converge at River Run.

Sun Valley came up with a new plan.

But the resort’s proposal to expand the bottom of the lift area to clear a site for a children’s ski area ran somewhat afoul of a Ketchum city wetlands ordinance when the company began clearing trees without obtaining a permit.

Sun Valley Company crews cleared 30 large aspen trees and some low-growing brush in September. Complaints about the cutting reached city planning administrator Lisa Majdiak, and she notified Huffman that he might be breaking the law.

"We understand that filling a wetland requires a permit, but cutting vegetation doesn’t violate federal wetlands laws," Huffman told the Ketchum Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday night.

"I would be surprised if by this time next year, the growth isn’t back up," Huffman said.

In order to actually remove the vegetation, Sun Valley Company would have to get a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees federal wetlands areas.

P&Z members, admitting that they knew less than Huffman about the nuances of wetlands designations, decided they were not ready to redo their own wetlands ordinance, but did re-emphasize that anyone who wants to clear a wetlands area should come before the P&Z for permission.