"We didn't start with a palette that's completely clean, and we won't end with a palette that's completely clean."
Those were the words this week of Sun Valley Resort General Manager Wally Huffman, as he tried to assure a crowd of some 50 Sun Valley citizens that the resort is not trying to unfairly gain footing to develop large swaths of its vacant land.
The comment came at the close of a special town hall meeting Wednesday, Jan. 5, at the Sun Valley Inn. The meeting was called by Sun Valley city officials to take public comment on a new version of the city's land-use map, which works in tandem with the city comprehensive plan.
Since early 2004, the city has been working on updates of the plan and the map, which together will direct all planning, zoning and land-use decisions for the next decade.
Jack Cloud, community development director, presented the map to the public for the first time Wednesday.
Immediately, questions arose about why Sun Valley leaders can't simply leave the city the way it is. One audience member said the map appeared to gratuitously accommodate a long-term master development plan put forth in 2004 by Sun Valley Resort, which owns more than 2,000 acres of land in the city.
The resort's long-term plan calls for developing two new hotels in Sun Valley Village, a new golf course northeast of the village and hundreds of residences scattered across the city. The plan also calls for possibly installing a gondola from Sun Valley Village to the River Run base area of Bald Mountain, via Dollar Mountain.
One of the most significant changes proposed on the map would extend the city's so-called "area of impact" to the west, to include River Run. The area-of-impact boundary would open the door for Sun Valley to annex River Run into the city, but city leaders have said they simply want to have some influence over how the area is developed.
Although general support for the map and the Sun Valley Resort master plan outweighed opposition, the discussion Wednesday was highlighted by allegations that Huffman and his associates have been misrepresenting the resort's plans.
Sun Valley resident Karen Reinheimer—a relative of the family that once controlled Reinheimer Ranch, located immediately east of River Run—chastised Huffman for putting forth a plan to run a gondola over the ranch to reach the bottom of Bald Mountain.
Reinheimer said the single trustee of Reinheimer Ranch told Huffman—before the idea was presented to the public in April 2004—that he would not support a plan to run a gondola over the historic property.
"It is an adamant answer," Reinheimer said.
In addition, Reinheimer said she is not convinced Sun Valley Resort's master plan is as generous in giving up certain development rights as many citizens believe it is.
"I'm very concerned about the sprawl of residential development," she said.
Huffman, who serves on the city's Comprehensive Plan Update Steering Committee, immediately shot back.
"I guess we don't see the same reality, Karen, and I thank God for that," he said.
Huffman told the crowd that he did discuss the gondola idea with the ranch trustee and was given an answer that was "not encouraging."
"But you know," he said, "a good idea is a good idea."
Huffman said he has always portrayed the gondola concept as a distant possibility and believes it "probably still won't happen." Nonetheless, he said, he is "astonished" by the number of area residents who think the gondola "is a great idea."
In response to some citizens' comments that the city should be left as it is, Huffman said that because the resort has not pursued any substantial development in the last 27 years, many residents have been lulled into the idea that its open lands would "be that way forever."
In fact, he noted, many of the resort's land parcels are currently zoned for medium- to high-density development, and are not the "clean palette" of open space that many citizens believe they are.
"I've probably been the elephant in the room," Huffman said. "But I've tried to be an elephant with an open mind."
The city intends to approve the land-use map and comprehensive plan updates in March, after a series of additional public hearings.
Jack Cloud, Sun Valley community development director, explains a set of changes being proposed for the city's land-use map, which helps guide planning and zoning decisions. Photo by David N. Seelig
