Wednesday, June 8, 2005

Valley weighs in on Bellevue development


By MEGAN THOMAS
Express Staff Writer

The looming potential for big-box retailers to set up shop in Bellevue has prompted some Wood River Valley residents to request the city adopt stricter development regulations.

"Our role is to define the standards so that businesses that come in have to conform to the standards that we set," said Laira Thomas, chairwoman of the Bellevue Planning and Zoning Commission.

The commission met June 2 to continue revisions of the city's building-design criteria. The P&Z will next address building standards June 16, then again during a public hearing in July. The commission is expected to then pass to the City Council a recommendation for amendments to existing design standards for large-scale retail buildings.

"I think it's really important that we come up with a footprint, and not necessarily a size limitation, but we need to come up with standards that any developer or business has to fulfill and has to fit into to come into our city," said Jacki Saul, P&Z administrator.

The public capitalized on the meeting's workshop format by voicing their support for strictly controlled development.

"We want to keep that small-town personality, so I would urge you to be as strict as you dare," Bellevue citizen Joy Allen said.

Citizens suggested standards that delineate between one- and two-story buildings, consider the ratio of a building to its site, limit hours of business operation, require four-sided architectural detailing and incorporate adequate shielding for neighbors.

A flier encouraging citizen participation in the process, distributed with the billing statements of Hailey-based Idaho Lumber and True Value Hardware, may have contributed to the unusually high attendance at the P&Z meeting.

Whatever the impetus for attendance, the crowd supported a rigid regulatory approach.

"Your decision is going to be a legacy for this community, whether or not it's a positive or a negative," said John Shay of Bellevue.

The city chose to review the building standards for large-scale retailers after representatives from Home Depot approached the city in April. The potential for a large-scale retail store prompted the City Council to enact an emergency 182-day building moratorium on structures greater than 20,000 square feet.

Under the city's current ordinance, a maximum 72,000-square-foot building containing two businesses can be built in the business district.

Although the commission has not established a recommendation for square-footage requirements, the commission has recommended several zoning changes. Suggestions have been made to require a public hearing for the design-review process, require larger projects to be prepared by a licensed architect, require compliance with the Bellevue lighting ordinance and determine proportionality for snow storage and landscaping.

The commission also discussed establishing a separate ordinance, rather than simply amending the existing ordinance, that would contain requirements specific to large-scale retailers.




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