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Produced & Maintained by Idaho Mountain Express, Box 1013, Ketchum, ID 83340-1013 
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Copyright © 2002 Express Publishing Inc.
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For the week of May 15 - 21, 2002

  Editorials

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.

 


The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.