For the week of September 18 - 24, 2002

Bellevue asks county to slow its TDR plan

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By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

Bellevue City Council members Thursday authorized Mayor John Barton to sign two letters to Blaine County commissioners asking them to delay action on the county’s proposed Transfer of Development Rights program.

Following a brief discussion of the controversial TDR plan, the panel gave Barton approval to sign a letter put forth by City of Hailey officials last week that asks commissioners to hold off on implementing a TDR program until Hailey and Bellevue have first established with the county an Area of City Impact agreement. The proposed agreement is designed to define which lands that are currently in the county’s domain could be annexed into the cities in the future.

Hailey City Council members last week gave permission to Mayor Al Lindley to sign the letter and seek a corresponding signature from Barton to show that the two cities share a common view on the issue.

The letter states that "both cities strongly believe that the cities and the county should first adopt the area of city impact and reach a decision on how the area of city impact should be implemented before a TDR program is adopted."

The letter also expresses gratitude to the county for implementing a temporary delay in advancing the program by calling for a public hearing and workshop on the TDR proposal next Wednesday, Sept. 25, while the two cities work to finalize the ACI plan.

Mayors and several city council members of both cities have planned to attend the meeting, which will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Old County Courthouse in Hailey.

Bellevue City Council members Thursday also authorized Barton to sign a separate letter to commissioners drafted by City Attorney Jim Phillips to specifically outline the city’s position on the TDR proposal and the pending ACI agreement.

In its discussion of a revised set of TDR "receiving areas"—which under the plan would be designated to accept an increase in development rights that could be sold by landowners in "sending areas" south of Bellevue—the letter notes that one proposed "receiving area" within the Bellevue city limits could cause undesirable impacts on the city. The letter states that the proposed density increase would interfere with "land use designations for (the city’s) proposed ACI, and risks growth without mitigation."

The letter also notes that in clustering its proposed receiving areas around Hailey and Bellevue, the county seemed to "completely overlook similarly zoned properties surrounding the communities of Ketchum and Sun Valley."

Councilwoman Tammy Schofield asked Phillips if the city would be restricted by the letter’s specific point-by-point responses to 11 goals and objectives of the county in making ACI agreements with cities.

Phillips said he believed the city needed to specifically state its positions to the county. "I think you need to get down to specifics," he said. "How else are you going to advance the discussion?"

 

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