Stanley’s problem
Blaine County and its cities have suffered their fair
share of derision for their zoning ordinances.
If planning officials had a quarter for every time they
heard the phrases "These restrictions are unreasonable" or
"It’s not like this in Boise," all would have retired wealthy
by now.
A Boise developer who has proposed a subdivision in
Stanley has provided a vivid reason to appreciate Blaine County’s
restrictions.
The subdivision could radically scar the frontier town
that is the hub of Idaho’s central wilderness.
The developer proposes to sell 46 lots on 66 acres around
Valley Creek and on the adjacent hills
Among the lots that developer Steven Hosac calls "CEO
lots" are two that are on the top of the rock bluff across Valley
Creek from the Stanley Community Center.
The rock bluffs are a key geologic feature in the little
town. Stanley has no ordinance to prevent building right on top of them.
It also has no architectural requirements that could protect the frontier
feel of the town from being overwhelmed by burbstyle.
Stanley lies in Custer County, where planning and zoning
is treated as some kind of nasty conspiracy. Stanley is free of the 5B
restrictions that protect riverside habitat, hillsides, ridgelines,
agricultural lands and some view corridors.
Granted, with barely 50 year-round souls, it was a lot to
ask that Stanley produce a comprehensive plan and zoning ordinances. Blame
it on Idaho, where any kind of government but the state kind is generally
loathed and which has never provided small communities with model
ordinances that could be altered easily and cheaply to suit a city’s
circumstances.
The fact that such a subdivision can even be proposed is
sheer shameful neglect by local, state and federal officials who should
have known better.
Until now, Stanley’s isolation, its
30-degrees-below-zero winters, a two-month economy and high construction
costs did what the city did not. They protected the isolated town from the
ravages of misguided development and land speculation.
No more. It was inevitable that as the urban areas of the
nation swelled, new interest in isolated places near major resorts like
Sun Valley would grow.
The Stanley City Council has scheduled a public hearing on
lot-line shifts in the subdivision and scheduled a public hearing on the
matter next Wednesday, February 28 at 7 p.m. at the Stanley Community
Building.
Stanley has little to look to but jawboning, public
derision and the flypaper nature of any federal regulations that may apply
to prevent its face from being rearranged.
This could not happen in Blaine County today because of
local regulations. Love `em or hate `em, they have protected the character
of the Wood River Valley. That’s something everyone can appreciate.
