It was a two-hour discussion that would do Einstein proud.
Will mass (and height) be critical in building luxury hotels to bring tourists and their fat wallets here? Or should the city just get on with it as some implored, and get some hotels going, be they three, four or five stories high?
This would be the simplistic take on a complicated emotional and financially-oriented issue that brought an overflow crowd to a special meeting of the Ketchum City Council on Tuesday, June 26. Many were there to hear the results of the Gateway Massing Study, which will play into what form and mass the hotels expected to be built at the Gateway area, Warm Springs Ranch and elsewhere could take.
Colorado-based planning consultant Nore Winter, paid $27,000 to conduct the study, used still and moving-revolving graphics depicting various options for all four blocks of The Gateway area at River and Main streets. City contract planner Lisa Horowitz introduced Winter.
She called the presentation a "visual manifestation" of our written policies. Much of the presentation dealt with the mass, views, "footprint" and shading that various heights and bulks of prospective hotels would present.
As a "working document," which is not adopted policy, the mayor and council listed 32 "criteria" ranked in four categories of importance: highest, high, moderate and low. Among the top criteria to build any hotel are: an experienced hotel developer as the project lead, a firm commitment from an experienced hotel operator, project has an integrated team approach, that it adds to the tourist economy and that it contributes to affordable housing. The 32 items could be wrapped into a resolution supporting the Gateway study. The council may consider such a resolution at its July 16 meeting, Planning Director Harold Moniz said in a telephone interview.
Several attendees echoed the sentiments of Ketchum Realtor Pam Colesworthy, who urged the council not to get too bogged down in details and "over-analyze." She said while second-home owners are good people they don't go out as much and drink, party and spend money like tourists.
"I hope you have the political courage to do what you need to do," she said. "We are withering as a tourist town. We need to infuse this town with tourists again ... I ask you not to be afraid. Go forward and get it done."
One man said arguments should not bog down over whether a hotel has a fourth or fifth floor especially if it has a conference facility, restaurant or spa.
One of three hotel developers who have applications on file for the Gateway area said there was a certain "efficiency in a hotel layout that has to be followed." Jack Bariteau, managing member of the Trail Creek Fund LLC, based in Palo Alto, Calif., shared the cost of the study with two other developers and the city. He is proposing to build a hotel at Trail Creek Village.
"You have to (have) flexibility ... if the spirit is that and you expect the investment to be made a merging of interests has to take place," Bariteau said. "We are going to be proposing a building that is higher than permitted in your tourist zone because we have to."
The city's Downtown Master Plan framework says, "The land is precious ... Building density is preferred over sprawl."
Ketchum resident Mickey Garcia said he didn't understand the Gateway concept. "The taller the better in Ketchum," he said. "Most of us know an attractive building when we see one."
Councilwoman Terry Tracy believes the bigger picture is getting visitors to town to stay in future luxury hotels.
"It scares me to death that we don't have a way to get people here on a regular basis," she said.
An audience member responded that airlines would adjust their flights to reflect supply and demand.
Councilman Ron Parsons appeared ready to "stick a fork in it," saying the city had good P&Z people.
"I'm done," he said. "Let the developers take a run at it."
When discussion ended and in response to a question from Horowitz, Councilman Baird Gourlay said he wants the full Planning and Zoning Commission to see the Gateway presentation before the council entertains a resolution supporting the massing study.
The study describes the four blocks composing the Gateway area and what exists on each block as well as setting forth "design principles" for the blocks.
Overlaying the discussions are the city's existing policies, principles and vision set forth in several plans like the Ketchum Master Plan, Downtown Master Plan Framework and the Comprehensive Plan. Among numerous guiding principles for place and form listed are that buildings should reflect community values including socials gathering, nature in all its forms, health and creativity and arts.
Regarding "downtown form" the Downtown Master Plan says, "New buildings should emphasize pedestrian connections and respect the architectural traditions of downtown Ketchum." It also says building facades should reflect traditional lot lines, and buildings should have multiple doors and windows.
Three hotels have been proposed for three different sites in the Ketchum Gateway, above, the area where Main Street climbs a small hill and intersects with River Street. Photo by David N. Seelig
