Issues of safety and design were on the minds of the Ketchum City Council and mayor this week as they looked over revised designs of the proposed Wood River Community YMCA.
The council heard an update from designers and engineers involved in the project during a public hearing on the planned unit development Monday, Aug. 15.
The Ketchum-based YMCA hopes to construct an 84,155-square-foot recreational facility on city property at the corner of Warm Springs and Saddle roads. The city has agreed to lease a portion of its Park and Ride lot to the YMCA, which is in throes of a campaign to raise some $16 million for the project.
Council members discussed the likelihood of increased traffic, both pedestrian and vehicular, if the facility is built.
New street striping, paths, tunnels and signals could help lessen the danger, said Dick Fosbury, an engineer for Galena Engineering who represents the YMCA.
"My recommendation is that the city seriously explore another pathway on the south side," he said. "The more pedestrian (traffic) increases, the more there'll be conflicts between increased traffic on Warm Springs Road. People are very sensitive about pedestrian traffic here."
Fosbury said the Ketchum Planning & Zoning Commission suggested the city have an independent traffic engineer conduct studies to determine how best to deal with the situation.
The P&Z recommended approval of the PUD on May 9 and approved the design of the project on July 11.
P&Z commissioners also recommended that the YMCA contribute funds to offset the project's traffic impacts.
A memo from Ketchum Fire Marshal Mike Elle states that access from the YMCA to Lewis Street is not required for Fire Department approval but is recommended.
"The access path is strongly encouraged to allow timely egress of all occupants from the property to a public way in an emergency. In addition, the Lewis Street access provides another access route to the area for responders in an emergency," the memo reads.
Council members said they were inclined to enter into a license agreement rather than grant an easement for the path.
The YMCA design includes an ice rink, two pools, a gymnasium, locker rooms, a climbing wall, an aerobics room, community conference rooms, offices and a day care area.
Designers asked the council for two waivers—one for height and one for setbacks—but Mayor Ed Simon was cool to the idea.
"When we had hotels coming to us we sure did make them jump through some hoops," he said, referring in part to a bitter, drawn-out battle over a proposed 59-foot hotel on Main Street. It was approved at 47 feet but was never built.
Council President Randy Hall said the YMCA is different from proposed hotels in that the elevation impacts are not as great and the setbacks are different.
"I see it as an entirely different scenario," Hall said.
Councilmen Ron Parsons and Baird Gourlay supported having Ketchum Area Rapid Transit add a stop to its bus schedule to accommodate YMCA patrons and others who park across the street from the Warm Springs Road bus stop.
"It doesn't make any sense to drop people off and have them cross the street in their ski boots," Gourlay said. "We ought to lobby the KART board. I imagine we'd have a say because we give them the most amount of money."
The public hearing was continued to Tuesday, Sept. 6.
