Wednesday, March 24, 2004

City OKs clubhouse
at Elkhorn

---

By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

An ongoing project to completely revamp the Elkhorn Golf Club took a significant step forward Tuesday, when Sun Valley Planning and Zoning commissioners approved a proposal to build a new 16,000-square-foot clubhouse adjacent to Elkhorn Village.

The approval issued March 23 by the P&Z also represents the first step for the CG Elkhorn development group to gain approval for an associated proposal to redevelop the core of Elkhorn Village with a mix of residential and commercial structures.

CG-Elkhorn has owned approximately 11 acres of commercial-zoned property in the village, as well as the Elkhorn golf course, since late 2001.

David Hennessy, a Ketchum-based partner in CG Elkhorn, told commissioners that the clubhouse would ultimately complement the other developments being proposed by his group.

"It enhances our position of trying to revitalize that area of the Elkhorn core," Hennessy said.

The clubhouse is planned to include a restaurant, lounge, pro shop and various administrative facilities, all designed to serve members and guests of a newly privatized Elkhorn Golf Club.

(Public golf agreement reached for Elkhorn course, see story.)

The new facility is slated to be the crown jewel in CG Elkhorn’s ongoing redevelopment of the club. The group has already commenced a project to reconfigure the layout of club’s 18-hole golf course and reconstruct all of its greens and bunkers.

The larger issue at hand Tuesday was how the P&Z would process a master plan submitted by CG-Elkhorn proposing to redevelop the site of the defunct Elkhorn Resort.

The group earlier this year informally proposed to develop 128 market-rate condominiums, 12 community-housing units, two commercial buildings and a sales office on the resort site. The project is called Elkhorn Springs.

To initiate the Elkhorn Springs project, CG Elkhorn on Feb. 10 formally requested city permission to build and operate a new golf clubhouse immediately east of Elkhorn Village.

Because the city does not have an established process to review and approve master development plans, CG-Elkhorn also submitted its Elkhorn Springs conceptual plan—with a request that it be reviewed with the clubhouse plan.

During their first two formal reviews of the CG Elkhorn proposals, P&Z commissioners debated at length how to proceed with approving the master plan.

However, the matter was finally resolved Tuesday.

In unanimously approving the clubhouse project, commissioners attached several conditions. One condition specifically stipulates that a master plan for the 11-acre village property must be approved before a certificate of occupancy is issued for the clubhouse.

The P&Z also stipulated that it would not approve any individual elements of the master plan before the larger plan itself is endorsed.

"Other than the golf proposal, I’d like to see the master plan lead," said Commissioner Virginia Egger.

P&Z commissioners implicitly agreed to move forward with reviewing the master plan this spring.

Hennessy said CG Elkhorn will likely submit to the city in April its plans for the first phase of Elkhorn Springs. He has noted that the first phase of the project would likely include at least one of two planned commercial buildings and several residential buildings.

The conditions of approval of the golf clubhouse also include a provision to enact an agreement between the city and CG Elkhorn to guarantee limited public access to the golf course.

CG Elkhorn representatives Tuesday noted that the Sun Valley Elkhorn Association homeowners’ group has already approved the golf clubhouse.

The group will also need to gain approval from the Sun Valley City Council for a lot-line shift approved by the P&Z Tuesday. The request, so far, has not been controversial.

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.