Public meeting
The city of Sun Valley will host two two-hour public hearings Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2005, in the Limelight Room of the Sun Valley Inn, to take public comment on its proposed land-use map and other related elements of an ongoing update of the Sun Valley Comprehensive Plan. Citizens and interested parties can choose to view and comment on the map during one session from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. or another from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The city of Sun Valley is seeking public comment on what could be the most critical element of a rewrite of its comprehensive plan, the document that will guide all of the city's land-use and planning decisions for the next decade.
Next week, city officials will unveil to the public a proposed new version of the city's land-use map, a vision of how the city believes private and public land parcels should be used in years to come.
To take public comment on the map and other related elements of the ongoing update of the comprehensive plan, two two-hour public hearings have been scheduled Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2005, in the Limelight Room of the Sun Valley Inn. Citizens and interested parties can choose to view and comment on the map during one session from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. or another from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
"This is our plan, our vision, for the future," said Mayor Jon Thorson. "The public needs to take a look at this, and now is the time."
The two meetings will be hosted by a committee of citizens and stakeholders who throughout the year have led the process of updating the Sun Valley Comprehensive Plan.
The proposed land-use map is designed to work in tandem with the comprehensive plan. While it does not mandate zoning changes, the map does have great influence on future land-use decisions, including those about zoning.
Much of the steering committee's effort has been put towards integrating elements of Sun Valley Co.'s long-term master development plan into the land-use map.
The company's long-term plan calls for developing two new hotels in Sun Valley Village, a new golf course on the resort's Gun Club property and hundreds of residences scattered across the city. Sun Valley Co. owns more than 2,000 acres of land in Sun Valley.
The proposed land-use map includes provisions to strictly control future development in several key areas of the city. Five areas have been designated as special "land-use planning areas," for which a specific plan would have to be approved before any development would be permitted.
As proposed, the land-use map would provide for some development along both sides of Sun Valley Road at the city's main entrance, with a corridor of open space buffering the road. The base of Penny Hill, at the intersection of Sun Valley and Saddle roads, is designated as open space.
The updated map and plan would provide Sun Valley Co. with an opportunity to develop single-family residences in the Prospector Ridge area, across Elkhorn Road from the new Dollar Mountain Lodge.
In addition, the documents would provide for permission of a new nine-hole golf course on Sun Valley Co.'s Gun Club parcel, northeast of Sun Valley Village.
One of the most significant changes to the map calls for the city to extend to the west its so-called "area of impact." By extending the zone's western boundary across state Highway 75 to include the River Run area at the base of Bald Mountain, the committee is opening the door to annexing River Run into the city of Sun Valley.
The city is also proposing to extend its area of impact to the south.
Virginia Egger, city administrator, said the city is not planning a land grab, but instead wants to ensure that River Run and the southern approach to the city are carefully planned in cooperation with all interested governments.
Egger stressed that regardless of what is drawn on the map, all new developments, subdivisions, annexations and zoning changes would nonetheless be subject to city approval.
The city is planning to formally adopt the comprehensive plan update and the associated land-use map in March 2005. Both must be reviewed and approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council.
