For the week of January 21 - 27, 2004

Four appointed to
Sun Valley P&Z

Thorson seeks to reduce
development interests

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By GREG MOORE
Express Staff Writer

Keeping a campaign promise to reduce development interests on the Sun Valley Planning and Zoning Commission, Mayor Jon Thorson appointed three new commissioners and re-appointed a fourth.

Thorson made the appointments as his first act in office after being sworn in during a city council meeting Thursday, Jan. 15. The council confirmed the appointments almost unanimously, with the only no vote coming from Councilman Lud Renick to the re-appointment of P&Z Commissioner Nils Ribi.

Sun Valley Mayor Jon Thorson, is sworn in Thursday, Jan. 15, for his first term. At his side is his wife Linda, a former Sun Valley city councilwoman. Express photo by David N. Seelig

The three new commissioners are Virginia Egger, a former town manager and part-time developer in Telluride, Colo.; Joan Lamb, a four-year Sun Valley resident and mother with some building experience; and John Gaeddert, vice president of a local planning consulting firm.

They will join Ribi, a venture capitalist; Ken Herich, and Phil Usher, a retired architect. Thorson did not re-appoint architect Mark Pynn.

At the same meeting, Thorson swore in Renick, who was re-elected in November, and former P&Z Commissioner Blair Boand, who was elected to his first term on the City Council. Councilwoman Ann Agnew was elected council president.

During Thursday’s standing-room-only meeting, about 10 citizens expressed support for Ribi’s reappointment, several of them mentioning the importance of diversity on the commission. In an interview, Renick declined to say why he cast a "no" vote, but said that he believed the many expressions of support for Ribi were part of a "staged event."

Normally, the terms of only two commissioners come up for re-appointment at one time. However, four seats were opened this year when Boand was elected to the City Council and Commissioner Jim McLaughlin resigned.

In an interview, Thorson said that when making a decision to run for mayor, he noticed that eight of the 11 decision makers for the city—the mayor, council members and P&Z members—were in the development business.

"I thought that was an inappropriate mix," he said.

However, he said he has no particular agenda nor expectations that the commissioners will vote certain ways on certain issues. He said he does expect them to resist political pressure and vote on the basis of the city’s ordinances.

The newly constituted commission will soon be faced with some major decisions, including those related to:

·  An update of the comprehensive plan.

·  Development of the former Elkhorn Hotel site.

·  An updated master plan for Sun Valley Company’s property.

·  An amended application for Sun Villa.

Thorson said he believes that preservation of open space and appropriate scale of development top the list of most Sun Valley citizens’ concerns regarding those issues.

 

Virginia Egger

Egger has lived in Sun Valley for over three years. She serves as executive director of the Telluride Mountainfilm festival.

Since 1996, she has been a partner in a firm in Telluride that developed a 620-acre parcel across from the ski area there. In her résumé, she stated that the developers emphasized protection of the scenic foreground and wildlife habitat.

She spent about eight years as Telluride town manager and assistant town manager, and five years as Delta County planner.

In an interview, Egger said that as Sun Valley P&Z commissioner, she hopes to work closely with other local P&Z commissions.

"We are a region that shares the benefits and problems of the resort," she said.

Egger said she would like to examine the city’s ordinances to ensure that they enforce the vision stated in its comp plan. She said she would also like to strengthen the comp plan’s provisions related to historical preservation.

 

Joan Robertson Lamb

Lamb serves on The Community School’s board of trustees, and on the boards of directors for the Sun Valley Figure Skating Club and the Ballet School Foundation. She stated in a letter to Thorson that her term on The Community School board will expire in June 2004, but that she will abstain from any matters involving the school until that point.

Lamb stated that she has designed and built five houses, and worked intensively with the architects and contractors.

She previously worked as the managing director for Merrill Lynch and Co.’s investment banking division, as an investment manager for The Prudential Insurance Company of America and as assistant vice president for Crocker National Bank’s airlines and aerospace department.

In an interview, Lamb said she looks forward to participating in making decision about Sun Valley’s upcoming planning issues. She said she hopes to provide a good balance between the rights of citizens to develop their property and the rights of those who already live nearby.

 

John Gaeddert

A certified land planner, Gaeddert established his own planning consulting firm in the Wood River Valley in 1992. The firm was incorporated in 1997 as the Corporation for Land Planning and engineering, with its office in Hailey. Gaeddert serves as vice president.

For the past four years, he has been lead planner for nine projects of the Blaine County school District, including the new Wood River High School.

Last year, Gaeddert was hired by Sun Valley to help process The Community School’s Sagewillow project.

From 1997 to 1999, Gaeddert headed the design team for construction of St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center.

Gaeddert is not a resident of Sun Valley, but was appointed to the one P&Z seat open to nonresidents, from which Jim McLaughlin resigned.

 

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