Ketchum city leaders said this week they will consider drafting a new city ordinance to require community housing be built in conjunction with new development projects.
The suggestions came during an impromptu discussion Monday, April 4, after housing activist Rebekah Helzel asked the City Council to instate a moratorium on new building projects. The moratorium, Helzel said, could give the city an opportunity to develop a new ordinance to mandate community housing be included as an element of approval for certain types of land-use applications.
All three council members present said they are interested in boosting the number of community-housing units developed in Ketchum, but not all agreed the city should employ a building moratorium.
"It's time to start discussing linkage," said Council President Randy Hall, referring to a policy of "linking" community-housing requirements to approval of new developments.
However, Hall said he is hesitant to instate a moratorium on approving new projects, in part because the Ketchum economy is highly dependent on the construction industry.
Councilman Baird Gourlay said he would like to discuss new community-housing regulations but thinks a moratorium on new projects should be a last resort.
Councilwoman Terry Tracy begged to differ.
"If a moratorium is going to force the issue, then maybe we have to look at going down that road," Tracy said.
Mayor Ed Simon said he is opposed to a moratorium but agreed to convene a special meeting next week to research regulatory options. Simon said he will meet with Helzel, the director of Advocates for Real Community Housing, and Michael David, executive director of the Blaine-Ketchum Housing Authority.
David encouraged action by the city, suggesting that it would be appropriate for Ketchum to follow other governments in Blaine County that have pursued new housing ordinances. Sun Valley is preparing to adopt a new set of ordinances to mandate community housing and Blaine County has employed a project moratorium to give itself time to do the same.
"This is a regional issue," David said.
Ketchum currently does not have any ordinances that require community housing to be built as part of new projects. Instead, the city has employed incentives for some developers to include a percentage of deed-restricted housing in their projects.
To date, Ketchum's approach has had mixed results. The incentives have yielded 21 deed-restricted units, David said, while 18 more are under construction.
Hall said Ketchum residents opposed mandated community housing when the city first started discussing the matter some eight years ago. Nonetheless, he said, the incentives built into city code have served to "break the ice" and give the city a foundation from which to implement more effective policies.
