Friday, June 25, 2004

Sun Valley issues a ‘call to action’

Mayor, staff request participation in Comprehensive Plan update

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By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

Sun Valley citizens next week will have an exceptional opportunity to influence the city’s future during a special meeting to develop an update of the Sun Valley Comprehensive Plan.

City officials and a team of planning consultants will conduct a public workshop Tuesday, June 29 in the Elkhorn Fire Station to refine the goals and principles of the city’s guiding land-use document. The meeting will commence with a 30-minute social gathering at 4:30 p.m., followed by more formal discussions starting at 5 p.m.

Mayor Jon Thorson this week urged public participation at the meeting, stating that Sun Valley is at a critical juncture in determining its future.

"The Comprehensive Plan is going to be the marching orders for the city," Thorson said. "I do not want citizens to miss out on helping to develop this document."

The city earlier this year initiated the process of updating its Comprehensive Plan, which was last modified in 1994. The original document was finalized and adopted by the city in 1978.

Brent Harley & Associates, a team of resort-area planning consultants based in Whistler, British, Columbia, is guiding the update process.

The consultant team has stressed that the current update of the Comprehensive Plan could very well shape the look and feel of the city for decades to come.

"Today, the city of Sun Valley is at an important crossroads in its history," the consultants noted in a recent summary of the update process. "Like most mountain-resort communities across North America, Sun Valley is actively readjusting its sights to accommodate the new realities of the 21st century."

Thorson this week stressed his disappointment that—from his perspective—the majority of a list of so-called "action items" outlined in the 1994 update have not been completed in the last 10 years.

"Less than 50 percent of them were addressed," he said.

Thorson and city consultants issued a "call to action" this week that calls upon city officials and citizens alike to involve themselves in the process of ensuring the city’s goals are achieved.

"Words simply aren’t good enough," consultants from Harley & Associates noted. "If you really want change, you’ve got to act."

Public involvement at an April town meeting to begin development of a new, revised set of goals for the city was sparsely attended.

However, a committee of 13 volunteers in the last three months has been working to develop a comprehensive list of broad goals for the city to include in the current update.

Thorson, city planners and consultants from Harley and Associates are hopeful that the public will be more involved on Tuesday, when they will work to refine the committee’s list.

The mayor said the current update process is particularly important in light of Sun Valley Co.’s April 6 unveiling of a long-term master plan to develop portions of 2,600 acres of land it owns in the city.

The mayor said this week that he wants the consultants to include broad elements of the Sun Valley master plan into the city’s Comprehensive Plan.

Thorson has said repeatedly that he is generally in favor of the Sun Valley plan, largely because it appears to be sensitive to the environment and community concerns about excessive growth.

A revision of the city’s ordinances in the coming years will be critical to ensuring the goals and visions in the Comprehensive Plan are realized, the mayor said.

The city’s consultants plan to complete a draft of the new comprehensive plan by fall and to bring a final document to the Sun Valley City Council by the end of the year.

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HOW TO PARTICIPATE

Sun Valley city officials and a team of planning consultants will conduct a special meeting at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 29, in the Elkhorn Fire Station, to refine the goals and principles being incorporated into an update of the Sun Valley Comprehensive Plan. A 30-minute social gathering will precede the public discussions, which are scheduled to commence at 5 p.m. The meeting is essentially the last opportunity for citizens to publicly cooperate on the new draft amendment of the city’s guiding land-use document. City officials will, however, conduct interviews with citizens and stakeholders in the plan on an ongoing basis.

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.