Threats came to fruition last month when a lawsuit was filed with 5th District Court in Hailey against the city of Ketchum alleging the city's recently-enacted transfer of development rights ordinance constitutes spot-zoning and breaks city and Idaho laws.
Although the lawsuit was filed March 21, it was amended and later served to the city. Ketchum City Attorney Ben Worst accepted service on Friday, April 13. The complaint calls for judicial review and declaratory judgement.
"TDRs are provided for by Idaho Code, so they are legal," Worst said. "I think we're in a strong position."
The lawsuit was filed by Hailey attorney Fritz Haemmerle on behalf of KGF Development LLC, which owns the Copper Ridge building on Washington Avenue. At issue, Worst surmised, is the other half of the block, which fronts First Avenue. The area is designated as a transfer of development rights receiving area, where a developer can use purchased development rights from properties where conservation easements ensure their continued existence on a smaller scale.
Three of four lots on the half-block are owned mostly by 260 First LLC, a Seattle developer part of a conglomerate called The Justen Co. LLC. Scott Robers, a member of The Justen Co., said his group is "definitely planning on doing" a mixed-use building there.
"We do have TDR sellers to negotiate with," Roberts said. "But everyone's waiting to see what happens with this lawsuit."
Roberts stressed that his group has negotiated with the owners of Copper Ridge to try to be good neighbors.
"We just went through a major redesign pushing the building down about 18 inches, really, to try to minimize the view impacts," he said. "We've also set it back about 9 feet from the alley. Beyond that, there's not much we can do other than not build it, which isn't an option, obviously. I guess we feel like we've done everything humanly possible to be considerate."
Haemmerle did not return several telephone calls left since the lawsuit was filed.
The process of waiting for judicial review on the transfer of development rights ordinances is likely to take several months. For the time being, Worst said attorneys are preparing records from a meeting in which transfer of development rights were drafted and enacted by Ketchum officials, "which could take several weeks to several months."
