Wednesday, October 5, 2005

Warm Springs owners pull plug on annexation

Group files new application to subdivide part of the property


By REBECCA MEANY
Express Staff Writer

The owners of Warm Springs Ranch have pulled their multi-faceted application to annex and redevelop the site near Ketchum and replaced it with a new application for a 10-lot subdivision.

The city of Ketchum received a letter Tuesday, Sept. 27, withdrawing all applications related to the development, said Ketchum Planning Director Harold Moniz.

Concurrently, he said, representatives of property owner Sun Valley Ventures applied for a subdivision of the approximately 12-acre portion of Warm Springs Ranch already within the city limits.

Moniz added that there were no applications with Blaine County as of Tuesday for development of the remaining approximately 66 acres of the ranch located in the county, including the Warm Springs Golf Course.

The proposed subdivision falls within the city's Tourist and General Residential-Low Density zoning districts.

Sun Valley Ventures until recently had been seeking approval of three related applications filed with the city: annexation of the 66 acres in the county, a conditional-use permit for redevelopment of the site, and a large block preliminary plat.

Plans proposed for the property included a boutique hotel, condominiums, a parking structure, 30 affordable housing units, a new restaurant, a public hiking trail, restoration of Warm Springs Creek, a 37-acre public nature preserve deeded to the Wood River Land Trust and six public tennis courts. The owners also planned to decommission the Warm Springs Golf Course, causing a furor among some residents.

The project had been recommended for approval by the city's Planning and Zoning Commission, but it drew more resistance from the City Council. Some council members said they wanted independent studies regarding the impacts of the project on recreation, transportation and other issues.

Following council members' comments at the July 28 public hearing, Seattle-based Noble House Hotels withdrew its support from the project. Project manager Henry Dean said at the time that securing a new hotel partner in the face of Noble House's departure would be next to impossible.

Dean did not return several calls seeking comment on the new plan.

Besides the subdivision, Sun Valley Ventures has two bridge permit applications filed with the city. One is for a bridge replacement and the other is for a new bridge to access the property's estate lot.




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