Stanley to examine hillside protection
"We just want to make sure that hillside stays
attractive, that it does not become an eyesore to people coming into
Stanley."
- Stanley Mayor Hilda Floyd
By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer
Development of Stanley’s only hillside is something the
city’s elected officials appear to be taking seriously.
In two unanimous votes last Thursday, the Stanley City
Council voted to approve a Boise developer’s proposal for lot line
shifts in a 46-lot subdivision, but to institute a moratorium on issuance
of building permits in the affected area.
The moratorium will last until the council’s May
meeting, when city officials hope to adopt a hillside ordinance, which
would help guide development of the subdivision’s highly visible
hillside lots.
The ordinance would not prevent construction on the
hillside as Blaine County’s hillside ordinance does, Stanley Mayor Hilda
Floyd said. It would, however, help protect the hill from visually
obtrusive development.
"We don’t want that hillside violated," Floyd
said in an interview. "What we’re trying to implement there are
conditions for access, and to ensure the ability to get emergency vehicles
up there, and to preserve the natural character and the beauty of the
hillside."
The city’s actions are in response to Boise developer
Seven Hosac’s proposal to sell the 46 lots and guide their development
under a homeowners’ association called the Stanley Sawtooth Estates.
The subdivision is a combination of two subdivisions
established in 1972. To date, only six of the 46 lots have been developed.
Hosac purchased the two subdivisions last summer.
Hosac said in an interview that he intends to market the
lots in The Wall Street Journal and on a Web site he’ll later put
together, though such strategies aren’t finalized.
Among the subdivision’s 18 hillside lots are two perched
atop a rock bluff across Valley Creek from the Stanley Community Center.
Hosac said he recognizes the sensitive nature of the two lots, but also
said his attempts to work out a trade or conservation easement on the lots
with the Forest Service haven’t come to fruition.
A spokesman for the Sawtooth National Recreation Area has
said the process appeared too time-consuming to pursue. For one thing, the
lots would need to be de-annexed by the city before the federal government
could acquire any property interest on them. The city has declined to do
that on previous occasions.
Another 28 of the lots are in or near wetlands surrounding
Valley Creek, though Hosac said sale and development of most of those lots
is not in the foreseeable future. Additionally, development proposals for
the wetland lots would be subjected to review by a full gamut of federal
agencies dealing with wildlife and wetland issues.
So far, Hosac’s proposal has conformed to Stanley’s
ordinances and comprehensive plan.
Floyd said the conceptual ideas for the city’s hillside
ordinance are to establish measurement criteria and to generally protect
the hill’s visual attributes.
"We just want to make sure that hillside stays
attractive, that it does not become an eyesore to people coming into
Stanley," she said. "We want to make sure we put a lot of
thought into this ordinance."
