Vance Hanawalt is a resident of Croy Canyon, west of Hailey.
I am a Blaine county citizen, and I would like to express my concern about the proposed Croy Creek Ranch planned unit development and particularly the proposed rezoning of the agricultural land that has been put before our county commissioners, Tom Bowman, Sarah Michael and Dennis Wright.
The county's comprehensive plan and the 2025 plan clearly state that the density of homes and population should radiate from the central core of Hailey and not have a satellite density five miles from the city core in the middle of productive agricultural land and a game corridor. The proposed rezoning for the Croy Creek Ranch PUD increases the density of homes beyond the current zoning of A-20 and goes completely against the county's comprehensive plan and the 2025 plan, where citizens voted to keep rural areas rural.
The problems that arise from increasing the density of population in Croy Canyon by 43 percent five miles from the mouth of the canyon are many, but one of my biggest concerns is the safety and adequacy of Croy Creek Road and Rock Creek Road, given the significant increase of homes and traffic proposed by the rezone.
The 80 families that travel Croy Creek Road regularly consider it to be dangerous. From the mouth of the canyon—with children running into the road at Hop Porter Park, the narrow bridge over the Big Wood, the hikers and their dogs at the Carbonate and Democrat parking areas, the animal shelter volunteers of all ages walking dogs, the BMX track with its mountain bike camp for kids daily in the summer and additional motor-cross and snowmobile traffic—are all contributing concerns to the road's safety.
Croy Creek Road is also very heavily traveled by road cyclists. Our trails dry out earliest in the spring and stay open later in the fall than most other valley trails, making it a particular favorite with mountain bikers. The narrow nature of the road with three blind curves and a blind corner at the junction of Croy and Rock Creek all add up to a recipe for disaster and an accident waiting to happen. In fact, there has been a past fatality on Croy Creek Road, and many accidents occur regularly, two of which happened in the week of Aug. 14 this year. Croy Creek Road is also a game corridor that poses an additional hazard for travel and accidents, as cars encounter game as they cross.
I don't see how a development of any kind can be considered five miles out Croy Creek Road without the safety of the road and its current traffic issues being first addressed. I believe the rezoning proposed by the Croy Creek Ranch PUD is illegal and is in direct conflict with the county's comprehensive plan. For you, as county commissioners, officials elected by the citizens of Blaine County, to approve this rezone is not acting in the best interest of the people of this county.
