What is Sun Valley?
Is the city
of Sun Valley really a city? Or is it just a rambling, poorly occupied
hotel with a few full-time residents?
These are
the questions city leaders must answer when they decide whether to approve
the application of The Community School to build a private elementary
school in Sagewillow draw.
The plan
will go before the public twice. Tuesday, plans for the school were
presented. On May 28, the public is invited to appear and comment. Both
meetings were scheduled at 9 a.m. in the Sawtooth Room of the Elkhorn
Resort.
The city is
expecting a big turnout. For good reason. The Sun Valley Elkhorn
Homeowners Association, with 500 members, opposes the project. Many have
been part of a letter-writing campaign against the campus.
The city
can expect to hear every hackneyed NIMBY (Not in My Backyard) argument
that’s ever been invented. Too much traffic. Too much traffic noise. Too
much shouting and laughter. Too many conflicts between cars and kids.
Opponents
will march out the arguments even though there’s probably not a better
site for a new school in Sun Valley. The site is a 30-acre sheltered oval
draw that was home to the previous owners and their small stable of
horses. The nearest homes overlook the draw high above the north rim.
The
arguments will be couched in terms that are oh-so-polite and
oh-so-sincere. They will be delivered in reassuring, confident voices
calculated to inspire trust. They will be true to the genteel Sun Valley
style.
City
leaders must listen closely and look beyond style for substance.
The first
goal of the arguments will be to make Sun Valley a gated subdivision
without a gate, with walls invisible, but impenetrable.
The second
goal of the arguments will be to place the value of mostly empty
structures, tended by workers who drive in from somewhere else to remove
the snow and manicure the lawns, ahead of the education of the youngest
members of society.
The city
already contains too few essential services. Its 1,427 residents must rely
on other towns for grocery, pharmacy, medical and other essential
services. Unlike most cities, Sun Valley has no light industrial
operations except those associated with hotels. Children who go to public
schools must be bused to other towns.
The
arguments against the little private elementary school are selfish and
short-sighted beyond belief¾if Sun Valley is a real community and not a
rambling mostly unoccupied hotel, that is.
This is
what city leaders must decide.