For the week of December 18 - 23, 2002

Elkhorn Resort demolition plan tabled

P&Z wants time to consider 
changes to proposal

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By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

Sun Valley Planning and Zoning commissioners Tuesday declined to take immediate action on a modified proposal by representatives of developer CG-Elkhorn to demolish the Elkhorn Hotel and several adjacent buildings on an accelerated schedule.

In a special meeting Tuesday morning to continue consideration of a plan by CG-Elkhorn to tear down the hotel and three other structures in the village core, commissioners voted unanimously to continue the matter to a future special meeting set for Tuesday, Jan. 7.

Commissioners made the determination that they could not put the developer’s modified proposal to a vote because parts of the new plan were submitted the previous day, and had not been adequately reviewed by the P&Z or city staff.

Project attorney Ned Williamson made a special appeal to the panel for immediate action, but commissioners declined to rush the proceedings.

"I think time is of the essence," Williamson said, noting that project managers want to complete the first phase of the demolition before the ground thaws in the spring.

Williamson Tuesday presented a modified demolition schedule that proposes to tear down between Jan. 24 and Feb. 20, 2003, the Elkhorn Hotel complex, River Rock Steak House building and the structure that formerly housed the Treat Haus snack shop.

As the second phase of the proposed demolition, the Sun Valley-Elkhorn Resort Realtors building and the eastern, clubhouse wing of the hotel would be removed from Jan. 18 to Jan. 31, 2005.

A previous plan introduced Nov. 12 by project representative David Hennessy called for completing the first phase of the demolition from January through May of 2003, and the second phase from January through May 2005.

Williamson Tuesday said the schedule had been accelerated to keep the impacts on the city’s roads to a minimum. "To me, that is the most critical component of this plan," he said. "We want to get in and out, and get it over with."

He added that the most recent plan had gained the approval of the Sun Valley Elkhorn Association homeowners’ group.

Hennessy Tuesday noted that the accelerated plan would require approximately 20 round trips per day by dump trucks carrying 40,000- to 80,000-pound loads to remove the debris from the site during the first phase.

He explained that the Sun Valley-Elkhorn Resort Realtors building could not be demolished in the first phase because the business has a guaranteed lease for the building through the end of 2004.

Elkhorn resident Fred Rogers told commissioners that he believes the demolition plans have hindered his ability to find tenants for rental properties in the area.

"The Elkhorn Village condos are going to be savagely impacted by this whole thing," he said. "What’s the rush? Why can’t we do this in the summer time?"

Elkhorn resident Jon Thorson said he believes the P&Z should not deviate from a previous determination that demolition plans should be considered as part of a larger master plan to redevelop the site with townhouses and condominiums.

Jack Cloud, Sun Valley community development director, explained that P&Z commissioners in August had denied a proposal for CG-Elkhorn to start demolition last fall, largely because the plan included some redevelopment not governed by a master plan.

He noted the developer appealed the decision to the Sun Valley City Council, which last month remanded the matter back to P&Z with instructions to consider an application to demolish the buildings without consideration of any redevelopment of the site.

After the matter was continued, P&Z commissioners Tuesday endorsed a plan for the city to hire a consultant to help review two proposed projects for the Elkhorn Village Commercial Core district—including one anticipated application by CG-Elkhorn—that do not include any commercial space.

A final decision on whether a consultant is hired will be made by the City Council.

 

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