Hailey councilman takes stand against Eccles annexation

Before Bellevue officials made their opposition to Hailey’s proposed annexation of the 152-acre property owned by Spencer Eccles of Utah known to the Blaine County Planning and Zoning Commission on Thursday, they heard a compelling message from Hailey councilman Scott Basolo: Stop Hailey from annexing the Eccles property.

Basolo paid a visit to the Bellevue City Council last Wednesday and told council members that the Eccles land should be master planned before it is annexed as Light Industrial to keep the land from turning into "another LI nightmare, like south Woodside."

"Push as hard as you can to see a master planning scenario come into play before annexation," Basolo advised. "The time is now and immediately to first get the support of the county commissioners and garner the support of the Hailey City Council to stop this annexation."

Bellevue officials won part of that support Thursday when the Blaine County Planning and Zoning Commission recommended that future land uses for the Eccles property be negotiated between Hailey, Blaine County and Bellevue.

Basolo prefaced his comments to the Bellevue City Council by saying he was not speaking for the Hailey City Council or even as a council member.

In fact, he said he felt like "somewhat of a traitor" for bringing his message.

"I’m just one person on the council and at this point I’m afraid I might be a lone vote," Basolo said.

Basolo said a master planning process would help create a buffer between Hailey and Bellevue, but that a simple zone of impact line would only blur the distinction between the two cities.

Hailey Mayor Brad Siemer has been a staunch supporter of drawing a zone of impact line between the Eccles property and the Ted Divine property, the 90-acres parcel of open space that lies on the east side of state Highway 75 between the Eccles property and Bellevue city limits.

That approach would likely create a "land grab," in which Hailey would annex the Eccles property unilaterally, Basolo said.

"Everyone should have an equal say," Basolo said. "If we start doing annexations, we are going to lose the equality."

Bellevue officials, who are used to adversarial dialogue with Hailey officials on the subject of land use for the Eccles property, nodded in unison as Basolo spoke.

"We need to let the Hailey City Council know that this isn’t about just one council member and the Bellevue City Council," Basolo said. "It’s a community effort."

Basolo also warned Bellevue council members about a rumor that Eccles is interested in purchasing Ted Divine’s property.

If purchased by Eccles, the Divine property would likely be annexed by Hailey, which would leave Bellevue with little say in future land uses for any of the land east of the highway and between the two cities.

Bellevue Mayor Steve Fairbrother has said previously that the city of Bellevue anticipates annexing the Divine property.

Basolo urged the council to get public comment on these land use issues to the Hailey City Council.

"I ask you to consider every effort to get citizens to have an effect on the [Hailey] council people, because they do listen," Basolo said. "I’ll do everything I can to make sure I get some consideration on this issue."