Quigley Canyon developers put another arrow in their quiver of support this week when the Hailey Parks & Lands Board voted unanimously to endorse their application to annex the area into the city.
The application is being filed jointly by the owners of the ranch, Stoney Burke and Fred Judd, who are responsible for the residential aspect of the project, and the Blaine County Recreation District, responsible for raising $8 million for construction of a proposed golf course.
The application to the city is currently being reviewed by city staff, who are reviewing, among other things, whether holes and greens for the golf course can be located on the canyon's surrounding hillsides.
The ranch property, located immediately east of the Hailey city limits, runs six miles up the canyon. The proposal is for development of about 860 acres at the head of the canyon.
The completed application is not expected to come forward for review by the Planning and Zoning Commission until August, but Parks and Lands Board support is a step in the right direction, said Wally Morgus, Recreation District director for the Quigley project.
"I think it's a huge asset to the community," Morgus said.
The project as planned would include an 18-hole golf course, Nordic ski trails in winter and green space for non-golfers, including a 10-acre park around the Quigley Pond. Trailhead development to surrounding public lands is also planned.
"Restoration of Quigley Creek and Quigley Pond is one of the huge selling points of this golf course," said Becki Keefer, a member of the Parks and Lands Board. "It will be a more meandering and natural creek."
John Harbottle, a nationally recognized golf course developer with a reputation for developing courses that are water-sensitive and match local terrain, is designing a course that is not the typical artificial landscape in the middle of high-desert land, Keefer said.
"They will make use of native vegetation where possible," she said. Whether the project meets the standards to be a sanctuary approved by the Audubon Society, which would cost an additional $50,000 to $60,000, is still in question, but the planners are looking to repair the environment in a way that is wildlife friendly.
The Parks and Lands Board only supports a public golf course, which could help fund both city and county recreation. Morgus said the developers will be donating 212 acres of land for the golf course and associated water rights. Construction costs are to be paid so neither the city nor the county is saddled with debt. In the partnership agreement with the ranch owners, the Recreation District has one year from annexation approval to raise the money necessary to build the golf course. Greens fees would go directly to an endowment for ongoing county and city recreation development and upkeep, Morgus said.
On the Rec District Web site, a market and financial analysis for the golf course projects increasing revenues over time with $9,000 in the first full year of operation, $240,000 by the fourth year and $446,000 by the eighth year.
"We almost do it as an endowment," Morgus said, "There is a double benefit then to what it can do for the rest of our programs."
What percentage of golf course revenues would go to the city versus the county would be negotiated if annexation is approved, Morgus said.
"After more than three months of review, public comment and deliberation, the board concluded that the recreational benefits that will accrue to the community make the Quigley project a worthwhile pursuit," said Dan Gilmore, Rec District marketing and development director.
Hailey Parks & Lands support does come with caveats regarding the golf course, however.
"The board is very clearly saying that without a public golf course they are not in support of this application," Keefer said, explaining that a private golf course would have very little benefit for Hailey citizens. "If the golf course can't be constructed and is not part of the annexation request, then we're back to square one."
Morgus said another part of the agreement with the ranch owners is that 2 percent of first-time home sales will go to the recreation endowment as well.
"It could be a fairly substantial number," he said.
