The city of Sun Valley is an unusually service-intensive community, a major hub for tourists and business conferences and an area of luxurious residences. This level of service—police and fire, medical, building maintenance, tourism support personnel—requires people at year-round jobs.
The Sun Valley City Council's long-expected decision to require affordable housing is a bold and important step in ensuring that vital service personnel have an opportunity to live in the community they serve. Sun Valley Mayor Jon Thorson, who championed the new program, and council colleagues have set an example that deserves special kudos.
Virtuous as the new program is, Sun Valley's affordable housing law also is wholly pragmatic. As the rapidly increasing cost of Wood River Valley housing discourages job applicants or forces workers farther south into longer commutes, the level of services is bound to suffer.
Available affordable housing closer to work ensures uninterrupted and quality services. One retail employer recited a woeful example of costly housing: In five years, his small shop lost 64 employees unable to afford housing.
Sun Valley's housing approach eliminates escape hatches. Builders who cannot or won't develop affordable housing must pay in-lieu fees that will be pooled to provide units for workers and their families.
In time, Sun Valley and other communities will face another challenge: creating a major public transit system to improve the commute for hundreds of workers from outlying areas to their work places.
With Sun Valley's leadership in housing as an example, that challenge should be a little easier.
