Friday — March 12, 2004

TDR advocates
rally troops

Goal is to test program in Hailey

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By MATT FURBER
Express Staff Writer

Pushing for a system to protect more open space in Blaine County, community members with diverse backgrounds met this week to discuss the feasibility of implementing a Transfer of Development Rights program in Hailey.

A TDR is a voluntary and systematic tool for helping developers realize the financial value of their property, said Scott Boettger, executive director of the Wood River Land Trust. Boettger helped lead the meeting at the Community Campus in Hailey Wednesday, March 10. He note that TDRs have been employed around the country, particularly in popular mountain communities like Aspen and Lake Tahoe. They are intended to help the communities realize the intrinsic value of open space for public access, land conservation and protecting wildlife habitat.

TDR advocates, developers, interested citizens and government employees attended the meeting. Becki Keefer, chairwoman of the Hailey Parks and Lands Board, Christopher Simms, executive director of Citizens for Smart Growth and Martin Flannes, a development attorney who’s also a founding member of a green building and development consulting group called Developing Green also facilitated the discussion.

The advocates are interested in seeing a regional TDR program, but plan to test the waters by presenting a plan to the city of Hailey for consideration in the near future. Blaine County has a draft of a TDR ordinance on the books that Simms said is a good base for a draft ordinance the city of Hailey could consider.

"We want to take it to the Hailey City Council and see where they stand," said Flannes, who has worked with TDR programs in the Lake Tahoe area.

Hailey Mayor Susan McBryant has said a TDR program that comes from grassroots organizers would be reviewed by the city.

One idea is to create a TDR bank where development rights can be bought and sold. Property owners would get units of development credit for "sending zones" where sensitive property remains undeveloped. Developers would buy rights and use them in "receiving zones," which in theory are areas of the city where the community would prefer to see density.

Keefer said that according to information gathered from the Hailey Planning and Zoning Commission, Hailey’s maximum population could double to 14,500 at build out. Whether enough developable land exists in the city to accommodate the growth was a matter of debate during the meeting.

Long-time Wood River Valley developer Rod Kegley said it is possible that the capacity for people could be determined by the availability of groundwater. He and others said a TDR program should not result in a greater population than what may happen under current city and county ordinances.

"We have already run out of highway space," he said. "Population numbers (predicted) under current county ordinances gags me. I don’t believe we have enough water today for build out."

Keefer said it would take another 2,500 living units to accommodate the population predicted for Hailey. Some of that development could come from successful annexations, but even if Cutters Ranch, Justus Ranch, Quigley Canyon and Croy Canyon land is annexed the city would still need about 1500 units to accommodate the population increase, Keefer said.

Hailey Planning Director Kathy Grotto, who attended to meeting out of her own interest, said the number of developable units within the current city limits are likely to increase as some properties change from single family homes to multi-family developments.

Cutters Ranch developer John Campbell said people who live near receiving zones will "complain loudly" to density in their backyards.

"I think (TDRs) make a lot of sense in concept . . . (but) people don’t like density. They don’t care (if new development) is closer to the (city core) than half of the city. They don’t like it near them," he said. "I am a living example of that."

"It’s a very valid point," Flannes said. "We thought about (where density should go) a lot. (The city) could have all the fights now or one at a time. But, density has to go somewhere, Flannes said. He said some TDRs could be purchased and never developed, a trend in Aspen that has reduced density.

The goal of TDRs is to prevent haphazard development Boettger said. He said the benefits of open space need to outweigh the impacts of density.

"We’re at a point where the hard decisions need to be made," Boettger said. "Do we want to make a presentation to the city?"

Most people attending the meeting agreed that the time is right to approach the city with a plan. Citizens for Smart Growth will host a forum March 30 in the Community Campus auditorium to discuss the fiscal impacts of small versus large development projects.

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