Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Bellevue park to get a little bit bigger

South-valley city to acquire ?Archie?s Island?


By JON DUVAL
Express Staff Writer

Thanks to the efforts of the Wood River Land Trust, Bellevue will increase the size of the Howard Preserve, a public park located on the west side of the city, adjacent to the Big Wood River.

Click to enlarge (PDF)

The land trust has arranged to purchase an approximately 4-acre parcel of land, known as "Archie's Island," from property owner Robert Bouttier for an undisclosed amount. The 4-acre island is part of a 9.2-acre parcel and lies within city limits.

To assist in this process, the Bellevue City Council agreed on Thursday, June 28, to shift the preserve's lot lines in order to create an uninterrupted piece of city property along the east side of the river for the length of the preserve.

"We are excited by this opportunity to expand the Howard Preserve," said land trust planning coordinator Nathan Welch.

Welch said that once the purchase is finalized the land trust intends to deed the land to the city with the restrictions that it would be incorporated into the preserve and there would be no future development or modification to the property.

<

While the council was excited about the chance to improve the city's open land, it also expressed concern over the river bank stabilization that has taken place along the river. Such stabilization projects can affect land down river during floods such as those experienced last year.

Planning and Zoning Administrator Craig Eckles said this warrants a future discussion to ensure that property owners aren't changing the natural landscape of the river in a way that will be harmful to downstream users.

Also at the meeting:

· Jason Miller, the director of planning and marketing for the Ketchum Area Rapid Transit system, requested a contract for services with Bellevue for $10,000 in order to help provide better service for commuters throughout the entire day rather just the morning and early evening.

Currently, KART, which operates the Peak bus, sees approximately 750 to 1,000 rides per month that either begin or end in Bellevue.

· The council scheduled a special meeting on Tuesday, July 10, to discuss potential street designs for the Safe Routes to School project, slated to begin in early August. In addition, the council, with the help of traffic consultants from Transpo Group and Peak Hour Engineering, will discuss standards for city streets and traffic calming measures for Main Street.




 Local Weather 
Search archives:


Copyright © 2024 Express Publishing Inc.   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.