For advice, the city of Hailey could do a lot worse than heed a
200-year-old admonition from Thomas Jefferson.
"Delay," Jefferson wrote to George Washington in 1792 as the new
United States hurried to put together a mechanism of government, "is preferable to
error."
The Hailey Planning and Zoning Commission put its stamp of approval on the
proposed new North Hailey Plaza last week, without sufficiently pondering the immediate
impact of this project in its specific setting, or the questions it poses for future
planning and developments.
Objections raised at the Hailey Planning and Zoning Commission provide
opportunities for the city to chart a course for the community as it emerges into a new
period of growth fueled by investors who’re discovering Hailey’s potential.
Hailey has the option to avoid mistakes of other communities that welcomed
unsightly development in the name of progress.
It’s a truism that the Wood River Valley thrives because of its
lifestyle. Nothing is more essential to lifestyle than environment.
And environment is more than just spectacular scenery. Environment
includes noise, air and water quality, compatible architecture, law enforcement, arts and
culture, fine educational facilities—and preventing light pollution.
The disciple of so-called "dark skies" laws, Dr. Stephen Pauley,
spotted in the North Hailey Plaza the impact of the development’s nighttime
lighting—it would transform the otherwise tranquil night into day and "blow the
socks off" drivers entering the city from the north, as he put it.
Dazzling lighting is not vital to attracting customers.
Communities throughout the nation that have shown the wisdom of "dark
skies" ordinances and laws restricting the size and types of commercial signs report
no slowdown in business.
In fact, ending light and visual pollution creates an uncluttered and
friendly atmosphere for communities.
If North Hailey Plaza’s lighting scheme goes ahead as planned, the
city will have difficulty prohibiting other developers from filling the night skies with
showers of light and creating a garish nighttime look for the community.
Not incidentally, insisting on safe pedestrian access and traffic controls
to the plaza also is imperative as a standard for commercial improvements.
Hailey has the potential for growing into a reputation as one of
Idaho’s most charming and most livable communities.
But to do so, standards for growth must be controlled by city fathers and
mothers who’re responsible for the character of the entire community, and not set by
developers whose vision is confined to a single commercial tract.
