If the nearly 40 people who attended a joint Ketchum City Council and Planning & Zoning Commission meeting Monday expected to see details of the downtown master plan, they left disappointed.
Revealed instead was a summary of the draft plan, as well as thoughts by city leaders on where to go next.
The master plan process began last fall under the direction of economic development consultant Tom Hudson.
A framework was developed first to focus on the big picture, the vision and guiding principles, Hudson said.
The document that stems from that provides for the means of achieving the ends. Means of implementation include setting up a community development corporation, establishing a transfer of development rights program and forming an urban renewal agency.
A series of public workshops while the plan was under construction, plus input from city staff, led to the 157-page draft.
"The community responded in all the best ways we could have hoped," Hudson said. "They helped make this not only a better process, but a better product.
"It seems to me the community is coming together on the ends. I don't think we're universally loved, but I think people feel they've had a chance to participate."
Members of the City Council and P&Z will meet privately with Hudson this week to discuss particulars of the plan. Their revisions to Hudson's draft should be available next week.
At public meetings, the City Council will then discuss aspects of the plan before implementing any of it.
"Some of the regulatory language may take a while," Hudson said. "I would make that a high priority because you've got developers and property owners who want to know..."
Regulations to be debated include form-based codes, inclusionary zoning, transfer of development rights, building height and density.
"These are critical policy decisions," said Councilman Ron Parsons. "They're the meat of what we're doing. This thing (the plan) is going to live or die on those issues."
