For the week of July 16 - 22, 2003

Ketchum P&Z endorses Bald Mountain Lodge

Revised plan survives first round of reviews

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By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

Ketchum Planning and Zoning commissioners Monday, July 14, unanimously approved a conditional use permit for a proposed 80-room luxury hotel on Main Street.

In approving the revised plans for the so-called "Petite" Bald Mountain Lodge, the P&Z completed their review of the proposed 84,650-square-foot project. Developer Brian Barsotti must now seek approval of the project from the Ketchum City Council.

The 4-0 vote Monday—with Commissioner Harold Johnson absent—approved a planned-unit development application for the hotel. The panel approved the design of the project at a special meeting held on July 2.

The proposal considered by the P&Z this month was a scaled-down version of a hotel plan that was turned back by the City Council in January.

The plans call for construction of an upscale lodge at 151 S. Main St., on the site of the existing Bald Mountain Lodge motor inn. The proposed hotel—which would feature a 3,800 square-foot conference room, 1,000 square-foot board room, and a fitness center—is planned to offer guest rooms at a cost of approximately $225 per night.

In approving the design-review and PUD applications for the project, the P&Z recommended that the City Council approve three waivers for the project, including one that seeks an allowance to exceed by seven feet the city’s existing 40-foot height limit for hotels in the downtown core.

As P&Z commissioners discussed the PUD application Monday, Commissioner Ron Parsons said he would like the developer of the hotel to provide some amount of deed-restricted community housing. Parsons said he would not object to the plan on that basis, but asked staff to alert the City Council of his request.

"I feel like it’s a reasonable request to ask," Parsons said.

The approximately 2.5-hour discussion of the hotel proposal Monday was marked by repeated objections from a handful of project opponents.

Sun Valley resident Karen Reinheimer said she is concerned that the hotel might create unsafe traffic conditions.

She added that she would like to see the city consider requiring the developer to include an affordable housing component in the project. "This is going to be a tremendous impact on this town," she said of the proposed hotel.

Planning Director Harold Moniz said he and other city staffers have determined that affordable housing should not be required to offset an overall floor area bonus allowed for hotels.

However, City Attorney Margaret Simms said the city can choose to negotiate certain public benefits—perhaps community housing—to offset the impacts of the waivers requested by Barsotti.

Former Ketchum Mayor Jerry Seiffert urged commissioners to promptly pass the project. "This applicant meets all the criteria of the ordinance," he said.

In their approval of the plans, commissioners implicitly approved a proposed clock tower that would reach a maximum height of 59 feet. Parsons is on record opposing the clock tower, but P&Z members elected to leave the feature in the project for City Council members to consider.

 

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