Wednesday, April 7, 2004

Sun Valley Co. touts new master plan

Vision for future includes
new hotels, gondola

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By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

A new 200-room hotel, a gondola that spans the gap between Ketchum and Sun Valley and dozens of new townhouses were all part of a proposed master development plan put forth by Sun Valley Co. Tuesday, April 6.

In a long-awaited presentation at the Limelight Room conference center, consultants for Sun Valley Co. gave the public a glimpse into the future, displaying imagery of what the company’s vast land holdings in the Sun Valley area could look like in future decades.

The presentation technically took place as a special meeting of the Sun Valley City Council, the legislative body that will help determine which elements of the plan are acceptable to the city.

The approximately 50-year master plan was prepared and presented by planners from Design Workshop, a renowned resort-planning firm based in Denver.

Highlights of the master plan for Sun Valley Village include:

• A new 200-room hotel, including a spa, health center and restaurant, immediately southeast of the Sun Valley Lodge. The structure is proposed to be approximately 195,000 square feet.
  
   
• A new 38-unit fractional-ownership hotel immediately north of the Sun Valley Lodge, in an area currently used for public parking for Sun Valley Village. The 97,000-square-foot facility is designed to include a conference room and restaurant.
  
   
• A new conference facility immediately west of the Sun Valley Inn.
  
   
• A new Sun Valley Post Office located on the northwest corner of Sun Valley Village.
  
   
• Reconfiguring parts of the Sun Valley Village pedestrian mall to include a total of 13,500 square feet of new retail space.
  
   
• A music green and open-space area west of the Sun Valley Lodge, where outdoor events such as the Sun Valley Symphony concerts are currently held.
  
   
• New residential projects on the north and west sides of the village area. A complex called the Village Townhomes would be located next to Sun Valley Road, immediately west of the proposed fractional-unit hotel. The Tennis Townhomes would include approximately 43,000 square feet of development on the east side of the village. The Golf Townhomes and Golf Cottages, planned for the very northern end of the village near the Sun Valley Co. golf course, would comprise approximately 56,000 square feet of residential space.

The total proposed square footage of new development in the Sun Valley Village area is approximately 443,000 square feet.

In addition, the plans for the village call for a new gondola terminal immediately east of the Sun Valley Ice Rink. The proposed gondola would travel to Dollar Mountain and then to the River Run base area of Bald Mountain.

New developments are also being considered for River Run.

Prior to the presentation, Sun Valley Mayor Jon Thorson said he supports aspects of the plan, but also has concerns that some of the planned development would infringe on what he calls "sacred ground."

However, Thorson said he is firmly in favor of certain aspects of the plan, particularly decisions on the part of Sun Valley Co. executives to maintain open space in some areas and seek less-than-allowed development density in others.

Sun Valley Co. owns approximately 2,600 acres of land in and around Sun Valley, and has considerable lease holdings of U.S. Forest Service land on Bald Mountain, west of Ketchum.

The company commissioned a master plan for its property holdings in the Sun Valley area after former Sun Valley Mayor David Wilson indicated he would like to know the company’s plans before the city of Sun Valley updated its comprehensive plan.

The first rendition of the master plan was exhibited last summer to numerous elected officials in Ketchum and Sun Valley.

However, Sun Valley senior officials, including owner Earl Holding, decided to make refinements to the plan before presenting it to the general public.

The plans presented Tuesday were not formal development proposals. They were instead a broader conceptual plan that Sun Valley will seek general approval for later this year.

The city of Sun Valley is expected to cooperate with Sun Valley Co. throughout 2004 to incorporate individual elements of the master plan into its update of the Sun Valley Comprehensive Plan.

Thorson said the city will concentrate on incorporating acceptable "aspects" of the master plan into the city’s comprehensive plan.

Pursuant to the Tuesday meeting to view the master plan, the Sun Valley City Council will meet at the Sun Valley Inn Wednesday, April 14, to discuss the comprehensive plan update.

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.