Wednesday, July 13, 2005

P&Z gives final nod to Simplot plan

Development decision now rests with Ketchum council


By REBECCA MEANY
Express Staff Writer

The Ketchum Planning and Zoning Commission voted this week to approve the final plat of the proposed four-lot subdivision of the Simplot lot, central Ketchum's largest undeveloped property.

"I do believe the end result is a good transition from the urban side of town to the residential side," Commissioner Jack Rutherford said during the P&Z's meeting Monday, July 11.

The owners of the property, Gay and Scott Simplot, have applied to subdivide the 3.8-acre lot and have it developed with a mix of commercial, cultural and residential structures, all through a detailed development agreement. The Simplot parcel comprises two city blocks immediately northwest of the Ketchum Post Office.

According to estimates offered by real estate broker Dick Fenton, who represents the applicants, the development would provide close to $9 million in public benefits. The proposed benefits include 10,000 square feet of deed-restricted community housing, two public parks, improvements to a public bike path crossing the site and public access to a 136-space underground parking garage.

In return, the city would give up 33,000 square feet of public rights of way, including an undeveloped portion of Fifth Street and an alley that would bisect the property.

The Ketchum City Council has not yet approved the street-vacation application but will hear a third reading, and could render a decision, at its meeting Monday, July 18.

One other proposal by the Simplot family was to sell at a reduced price the proposed Lot 3—on the northeast corner of the site—for a new city hall.

City Council members have said they want to develop a new civic center on the site of the existing Ketchum City Hall on East Avenue, prompting the Simplots to withdraw the offer.

Fenton said the offer might be made available again if city leaders changed their minds, but owners are not willing to sell the parcel at the same discount for other uses.

"City hall would have been a high-quality, signature building with a long-term institutional owner," he said after Monday's meeting. "A city hall would be a nice balance to the (proposed Sun Valley Center for the Arts building), parks in between and mixed use in the middle."




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