Wednesday, March 2, 2005

Cutters' plan faces impact review

Hailey annexation examination contingent on fiscal impact study


By MATT FURBER
Express Staff Writer

Hopeful that Hailey city leaders would give some indication of their preference for their 143 acre development proposed for the Old Cutters' ranch annexation application, developers, John Campbell and Steve Brown were sorely disappointed Monday to be sent away with a late breaking directive. The Hailey City Council voted unanimously for a motion requiring the developers to complete a fiscal impact statement before annexation would be considered.

Although City Council President Rick Davis said he felt comfortable saying he liked what he saw of the plans so far, the council was far from unequivocal in their view of the project as presented at the regular city council meeting.

The proposed project includes two options, one for a 99-lot plan and a second, which was recommended by the Hailey Planning and Zoning Commission, for 113 lots, including 10 duplex units for a total of 123 dwelling units. The developers also proposed a park and passive green space, including hillsides and trails on the property located northeast of Hailey, adjacent to Dove Meadows and the Dumpke property both in the city, and adjacent to the Buttercup Subdivision in Blaine County. An irrigation canal cuts through the property and all proposed development is focused on the west side of the canal away from hillside slopes viewed as important wildlife migration corridors.

An independent consultant, Management Partners, approved by the council and supervised by Hailey city staff, would complete the proposed fiscal impact study, which could run as high as $70,000, a cost to be shouldered by the developers. Whether Campbell and Brown decide to go forward with the study at the risk of still being turned down by the city or chose to take their plans before the county is yet unclear, they said.

Campbell said they had hoped for some kind of indication as to whether the investment in the study was sensible.

"We have always been willing to go out and do a fiscal impact study," Campbell said. "We want to make sure this development does not cost the city any money."

Brown said annexation with conditions would help the developers because then they could simultaneously resubmit their latest design, to include community housing and a 20 percent density bonus, to the Hailey Planning and Zoning Commission, meanwhile hammering out annexation and development agreements. With the latest plan, which has gone through several iterations in the 18 months since it was first presented, Campbell and Brown requested that the city consider the fiscal impact study as a condition of annexation.

The new tact would allow the developers to catch up on some of the time lost in working toward completing their project be it in the city or the county. As it stands no work on the project can go forward without the study projected to take several months to complete.

Further extending the 18-month process, essentially makes the Cutters project a guinea pig in the city's effort to sort out its annexation procedures.

"It's going to be the template," Davis said. However, City Clerk Heather Dawson pointed out that of the eight pending annexation applications, some of them do have unique characteristics, which would break any mold.

Part of the problem facing developers like Campbell and Brown is that the city is under the new Growth Management Section of the Hailey Comprehensive Plan, which was adopted in late January. The plan offers developers little clear direction concerning requirements for impact studies. The Cutters application was originally submitted under the city's old Comprehensive Plan Growth Management Section, which did recommended an annexation policy, a priority list annexations and a general trend to square up city boundaries.

Under the updated Comprehensive Plan section the city is following a different growth management tact, which guides the council to make any requirements it sees fit.

"This council is dedicated to covering every nickel," said City Councilman Don Keirn.

Mayor Susan McBryant said the city is not seeking annexations, but Hailey City Attorney Ned Williamson has said the city will be facing mounting pressure for annexation and associated requests for service.

Williamson said the city is not obliged to require a fiscal impact study, however he said it is the baseline of annexation fees and he highly recommends it. "You can ask for more," he said.

"Perhaps we don't have a choice, but I sympathize with the developers," Davis said. "Eighteen months is a long time."

Keirn said the developers could even find that upon completion of the study they might even find that the project is too expensive.

Despite some criticism from former Planning and Zoning Commissioner Pat Cooley that the developers could have already started in on the study, having followed what the city has been considering recent city planning. A proposal for the study is something that Campbell and Brown came to the table with, Monday. However, Campbell argued that it is difficult to do an appropriate study when the final form of the project is still unknown.

Hailey Planning Director Kathy Grotto said the proposal generally conforms to the comprehensive plan with a few exceptions. The building space on the property, which is below the 25 percent hillside grade, is zoned R .4 in the county, which could allow the developers to go before the county with a plan for greater density.

Once the fiscal impact study is completed it would have to be re-noticed. Davis asked that the council reserve the right to allow further public comment on any new information presented at future hearings. Public comment on Monday retraced similar steps concerning city versus rural impacts and support for and against the project was fairly balanced.




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