New Hailey planner dives in
Kathy Grotto looks at long list of big issues
By TRAVIS PURSER
Express Staff Writer
Just weeks after she was hired, Kathy Grotto, Hailey’s new
city planner, is tackling some of the city’s most difficult planning issues.
During the last two public meetings, she has introduced and addressed
questions concerning the development of North Hailey Plaza and the annexation of Airport
West, two long-running and controversial projects that have caused city officials, staff
and the public to butt heads for years.
"This is a hard job," Grotto, 43, said during an interview at
her city hall office. Nevertheless, she seems glad to return to a city planning position
after a 1 1/2-year break working for a Hailey-based software firm.
Before that break, Grotto was a city planner for Ketchum for 2 1/2 years.
"Here was this opportunity to work in my field again," she said
of her decision to apply for the Hailey job, "to work in Hailey, where I live and to
be challenged again. It was a great opportunity, and I took it."
Some of the biggest city planning issues right now, she said, are
Hailey’s proposed annexation of 200 acres of land between Hailey and Bellevue, which
she said is "unlikely" to happen; the potential annexation of land in Quigley
Gulch east of Hailey; and the potential annexation of the Airport West land adjacent to
the airport.
Grotto said she intends to focus on completing the revisions to the
city’s 1982 comprehensive plan. City officials have been slowly whittling away at
revising the 61-page document since 1996, but still have a long way to go.
"It’s really difficult to get public input, and it’s
important when you’re trying to write the comp plan," she said.
Grotto said she’d also like to create a pre-application process for
development projects so developers can get feedback from city planners before investing
time and money on ideas the city is likely to reject.
Grotto holds a master’s degree in planning from the University of
Minnesota and has lived in Hailey for five years.
