Rick Kessler, a 33-year resident of Ketchum, is the owner of Magic Lantern Cinema.
By RICK KESSLER
This is an open letter to the Ketchum City Council.
I have lived and worked here for over 33 years. I've had good years and I've weathered the low snow years and recessions. I've never, however, experienced what has been happening over the past three to four years. One doesn't need a lot of statistics to know that year-round residents are an endangered species, that business is down, that activity in town is way down and the spirit of this community is slowly being crushed. You have a very, very, very serious situation on your hands. You are now losing businesses as well as people.
I hear a lot of rhetoric about this council being open for business, but I don't get a sense that you really are. I suggest that you get out from behind that daze and get on your walking shoes and visit every business in town. Trust me, you will get an earful. It's easy to say that the citizens have an open forum in the City Hall meeting room, but you know that real discourse is limited by time constraints.
Business owners depend on you to lead this community and help us all prosper. After all, we do pay a lot of the bills for running this town whether we live in it or not. You need to get out and talk to us, in our shops and in our offices. You need to do this and you need to do it right away. When you do, you will find a variety of opinions and some considerable consensus on a number of issues concerning the Bald Mountain Hotel and related growth issues.
Your reviews are not very good. I believe your hearts are in the right place and you are working hard, but there is a strong perception that this council is merely following in the footsteps of previous administrations. You certainly give the appearance of having your mind made up before debate even begins. Doors are shut, the process is bypassed, or, as in the case of Warm Springs Ranch, recommendations from your own staff and the unanimous findings of the Planning and Zoning Commission are ignored.
I also think you will find that you are perceived as unfair and unreasonable. Just a few weeks ago, the Bald Mountain site was being considered for additional height, then you changed your mind. The developer is entitled to unbiased consideration and due process under the existing ordinances. Ultimately, it is fairly simple. Do the pluses outweigh the minuses?
When you talk to business owners around town you will find a consensus that the town is not sleepy, as developer Steve Burnstead politely stated, but that it is comatose. With the exception of Friday and Saturday nights, visitors have little to do in the evening. Main Street and the town in general used to "be alive" six or even seven nights a week. My operating hours at the Magic Lantern have been cut back 35 percent since 2002. I've been told that the community has lost something like 42 businesses in the past few years and roughly only 18 have opened to replace them. How many more are going to disappear?
The south gateway to town is not Main and River streets; it is the Reinheimer Ranch and the surrounding open spaces. Several hundred yards from that boundary begins a flurry of condo projects whose architectural wonders are solely in the eye of the beholder.
I believe you will find that the height issue is, to some degree, a knee-jerk reaction to change. That was my own reaction when Brian Barsotti first proposed a four-story building on the Bald Mountain site. We're just too damned used to things being as they were. But, if you don't have any vision, you are just going to be left behind.
There are no unobstructed scenic views on Main Street. Other than at intersections, there are only partial views of Baldy that exist where one-story structures currently stand. Do you really witness crowds gathering in front of the convenience store at Fifth and Main to gush over the view of Baldy? Any structure on Main over two stories completely obscures the view of Baldy. And aren't the real views from Baldy and areas outside the city limits? Visitors stay in the city of Ketchum to have a place to sleep, eat, shop, socialize, and to be entertained. Visitors do not come here to hike around Ketchum. The highway department has not designated any scenic outlook turnouts within the Ketchum city limits. I didn't arrive in Ketchum 34 years ago and say, "Look at all the small buildings—I must live here."
The heart, soul and character of this town consists of the people who live, work and visit here. If the character is being lost, it is because locals are leaving, businesses are closing and visitors are fewer and farther between. There is no reason to believe that a well-planned, quality hotel, even at five levels, would change the character of the people that live and work here, make us any less friendly, or attract unfriendly guests.
If you recognize the need for more hotels then you must recognize the need that they be successful. As a de facto partner in wanting these projects to succeed, it is not unreasonable to afford them proper consideration vis a vie the investment in the project and our community. Quit treating all developers as fly-by-night hucksters. People who are betting $60 million on a project are going to have to work very hard to ensure its success. Please, be guided by reason and logic, try not to be intractable. You may be surprised how willing a developer may be if they are treated as a partner in solving problems and not the enemy.
The Bald Mountain Hotel proposal deserves a full honest appraisal from the city of Ketchum. Allow them to present their vision to Planning and Zoning without prejudging. The process affords all voices to be heard. You should listen as well.
