For the week of December 12 - 18, 2001

Residents slam development’s density bonus

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By TRAVIS PURSER
Express Staff Writer

A proposal to create a high-density subdivision on Broadford Road south of Hailey has created a stir among residents and land-use activists, who say the plan sets a precedent that would allow future, low-quality projects and would harm water quality with its concentration of septic systems.

Developer Bob Dreyer’s plan would create 21 residential lots on a 21.5-acre parcel of land near the south end of the Hailey airport. Zoning rules would allow about 17 lots for a regular, or straight-lot, subdivision. But Dreyer is asking for a 19 percent density increase under a special provision in the county’s subdivision ordinance that allows higher density in exchange for "superior design and amenities."

The Blaine County Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the Orachards application Nov. 8. The application is scheduled to go before the Blaine County Commission Jan. 22 for final consideration.

What remains unclear even after the P&Z hearings is exactly what "superior design and amenities" Dreyer is offering and whether they are sufficient to warrant the density bonus.

County ordinances don’t elaborate on what constitutes "superior design and amenities" and what doesn’t.

David Odom, the county planner overseeing the application, said "that’s the tough position we’re in."

Dreyer’s plan calls for 7.4 acres of open space that would include a pond, fruit orchard and playground equipment. Plans also call for an easily navigated circular road. He is offering 14.4 percent more open space than is required for the bonus.

But, Dreyer never said specifically that these were the "superior design and amenities" he was offering, and the P&Z never asked. So there was no discussion by the P&Z about how or why the trade for density is a good one.

Steve Wolper, founder of the Blaine County Citizens for Smart Growth advocacy group thinks it’s not.

"We feel they’ve lowered the bar," for future applications, he said. Now, "there would be no reason for anyone to apply for a straight-lot subdivision."

About half a dozen developers have been awarded this kind of density bonus in Blaine County. The subdivisions include the Heatherlands, Rancho Cielo, Griffin Ranch and Bluegrouse, which was approved but never completed.

Heatherlands developers offered a parcel large enough for a school or hospital in exchange for higher density, and Bluegrouse developers offered to move high-voltage power lines away from residences in exchange for higher density, county planner Tom Bergin said. (The school or hospital was never developed because a time limit ran out, and the power lines were never moved, because the subdivision was never completed.)

The so-called bar that developers must clear varies with each application and with the varying make-up of the P&Z, Bergin said.

Wolper said the current P&Z is not deliberative enough.

"The public makes all the comments, and you get no indication that the P&Z has heard them," he said. "There’s a pattern of not looking at the bigger picture and rushing to approve things."

Wolper also criticized the P&Z’s reduction of a 60-foot-wide road easement on the property to 20 feet. The easement could have allowed for an extra entrance to the proposed neighborhood, but as currently proposed would only be suitable for utility access.

And, he criticized what he said was a poor interpretation of a South Central District Health Department rule that allows only one septic system per acre.

The plan calls for 21 septic systems on lots smaller than an acre, but district health environmental health specialist Bob Erickson said he would approve applications for the systems, because, overall, 21 systems on 21.5 acres would amount to less than one system per acre.

Erickson said the plan is attracting attention because it is the first in the county to cluster septic systems, but he sees no threat to future groundwater quality.

 

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