Wednesday, May 26, 2004

Graphics courtesy of Michael Doty Associates

Low-cost housing project endorsed

Frenchman’s Place would be located north of downtown

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By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

The city of Ketchum this week took its first significant step toward fostering a mix of housing and business in the city’s light-industrial district.

Ketchum Planning and Zoning commissioners on Monday, May 24, approved a proposed 48,000-square-foot mixed-use project at 380 Ninth St., between Highway 75 and Grumpy’s bar and restaurant on Warm Springs Road.

The project is called Frenchman’s Place.

The P&Z by a 4-1 vote recommended that the Ketchum City Council approve a proposed rezone of the project site that links the specific development proposal to the property. By a 4-0 vote, with Commissioner Anne Corrock abstaining, the panel then approved the design of the project.

Utah-based developer P.E.G. Development proposed to build two structures on the sloping site.

The main structure would include a ground level comprising 22,000 square feet of light-industrial space plus two additional levels with 21 condominium units.

Five of the housing units would be designated as deed-restricted community housing ranging in price from $82,000 to $164,000. The middle price range for the 16 market-rate housing units would be $300,000 to $400,000, the developers noted.

The three-level main structure, which would face Highway 75 to the east, would be built above a 30-unit underground parking garage.

The plans also call for an approximately 1,500-square-foot winery facility to be built in a separate cottage.

The proposed development is hinged upon a request to rezone the 29,000-square-foot property from the city’s Light Industrial zoning district to the Community Core zoning district. The rezone was requested primarily to ensure the developer could sell the 21 housing units. Housing units are currently permitted in the LI but cannot be sold.

The P&Z debated at length whether it was appropriate to rezone the property from the LI district to the CC zone, largely because the city is rewriting the LI regulations to encourage mixed-use developments similar to Frenchman’s Place.

Ultimately, the majority of the P&Z agreed that Frenchman’s Place is a "model" for what should be built in the light-industrial sector of the city.

The Ketchum City Council must approve the rezone request before it can be finalized.

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