The smell arising from Hailey last week was not emanating from the fine restaurants there. It was far too sour.
It was the smell of a backroom deal in which the Hailey City Council settled a lawsuit, acquired new land for its sewer plant, and decided to sell off hundreds of sewer hookups to Harry Rinker, the developer of Peregrine Ranch. The sewer deal could enable suburban densities—380 units, or 2.4 units an acre—on property in the county that is zoned for half of that. Smelliest of all, the city contractually taped its own mouth shut on a subdivision that will come before Blaine County for consideration and that will surely have enormous impacts on Hailey.
The Council previously weighed in against the double densities during a standing-room-only hearing on Jan. 6 in which Mayor Susan McBryant limited public discussion to 10 or 15 minutes. The curtailed procedure seemed strange at the time, but now we know why.
Hailey City Attorney Ned Williamson maintains the city had no legal requirement to make the negotiations public. But it surely had a moral obligation to let Hailey citizens weigh in on whether they wanted the sewer system they bought and paid for to be used as a tool to increase building densities on the city's outskirts.
No one can blame Rinker for making a smart business deal. But the City Council is a representative body. Council members knew how concerned Hailey citizens were about the Peregrine proposal, and yet they bargained away any influence the city may have had on the project, solely because they were afraid of losing an unrelated lawsuit.
When Peregrine comes before Blaine County, the city's elected leaders will sit muzzled on the sidelines. Hailey will be a town with no representation, without a voice. What kind of government is that? Just plain rotten.
