Warm Springs owners open wallets
Group agrees to deed millions of dollars worth of property to Wood River Land Trust
By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer
The owners of Warm Springs Ranch, the recreational and restaurant property north of downtown Ketchum, have agreed to deed approximately half of the 77-acre site to the nonprofit Wood River Land Trust, if their $180 million redevelopment plan is approved.
The principals of the Sun Valley Ventures development group, which acquired title to Warm Springs Ranch last year, last week signed an agreement that could convey to the Hailey-based land trust 37 acres of open space for use primarily as a public recreation area.
?This land is so important,? said Scott Boettger, Wood River Land Trust executive director. ?This is one of the few big pieces of private, open land remaining in the northern Wood River Valley.?
The deal is contingent upon Sun Valley Ventures receiving final approval from the city of Ketchum for a plan to annex most of the property into the city and develop selected areas with dozens of residences, a new boutique hotel and a new building for the Warm Springs Ranch Restaurant.
The Ketchum Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to consider the development plan for the first time on Monday, Nov. 8, at 5:30 p.m. in Ketchum City Hall. The application review process is expected to include numerous public hearings before the P&Z and Ketchum City Council.
The offer by Sun Valley Ventures to deed the property to the land trust is the latest in a series of offerings being made to encourage the city to approve the proposed annexation. Previously, the developers had offered a conservation easement that would guarantee a large expanse of open space is preserved and made accessible to the public.
The property that would be conveyed to the land trust includes most of the area that comprises the Warm Springs Golf Course, including significant frontage on Warm Springs Creek.
As a part of the agreement, Sun Valley Ventures would be bound to completing an estimated $2 million project to restore the land to a natural state and encourage public access for activities such as fishing, jogging and snowshoeing.
Boettger said the deed would essentially guarantee the land will never be developed and would ensure the public can forever use the area for recreational activities.
?I think of it as a little Rocky Mountain version of Central Park,? he said.
Boettger, who with the Wood River Land Trust, seeks to acquire or gain conservation easements on undeveloped land throughout the Wood River Valley, said the acquisition could be ?another pearl in the necklace? managed by the organization.
Warm Springs Ranch was purchased by Sun Valley Ventures for $12 million in 2003 but is widely accepted to now be worth significantly more.
Henry Dean, Sun Valley Ventures project director, said the development group on Monday will present details on a revised set of public benefits that would be put forth as part of the proposed Warm Springs Ranch redevelopment.
Dean said his group?s ?credibility with the community is certainly much, much greater with an outright gift? of land, instead of an easement.
The redevelopment plan?which would require approval of several different land-use applications before it could be implemented?is one of the most significant proposals ever brought forth in Ketchum.
It proposes to annex into Ketchum approximately 65 acres of land under the jurisdiction of Blaine County and completely redevelop 9 acres already located in the city?s Tourist zoning district.
Since it was first unveiled last August, the plan has called for decommissioning the site?s nine-hole golf course and converting the majority of its acreage to a publicly accessible nature preserve and recreation area.
Other elements of the redevelopment plan include:
· Constructing a new boutique hotel, called the Lodge at Warm Springs Ranch, including a 12-room main lodge and 48 deluxe lodging cabins.
· Developing 75 condominiums and townhouses on the Tourist-zoned portion of the property. Eight tennis courts in the area would be removed.
· Building a new Warm Springs Ranch Restaurant next to the main lodge.
· Developing at least eight affordable housing units.
· Erecting a 180-vehicle parking structure?covered by condominiums?adjacent to Warm Springs Road.
In addition, the plan calls for establishing a new public hiking trail that would connect existing trails on the River Run and Warm Springs sides of Bald Mountain.
