Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Fabiano stresses Ketchum's boons

37-year resident aims for elected public office


By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

Rich Fabiano

Age: 61

Experience: P&Z commissioner, Past president Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation, member and past member of design review committees, owner Fabiano Construction.

Why running: "If elected I will strive for a balance between new development and maintaining the character of Ketchum's 'quality of life.'"

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For Rich Fabiano it's about positive vision, and although Ketchum is facing challenges, he said keeping an eye on the city's boons will help move decision making in the right direction.

"To me this is still paradise," the 37-year resident and candidate for Ketchum City Council said. "There isn't a day that's gone by when I haven't looked outside and said, 'thank God I live here.' The thing that's really important is to look outside and remember that I have a really fabulous quality of life.

"I get upset when I hear people downplay this community. We should be talking this place up. That's how we attract new businesses. That's how we retain quality of life. We'll all strive to make this a better town."

Fabiano's positive vision, however, doesn't replace his pragmatism, and the fact is that he observes some significant hurdles for Ketchum to overcome.

Here's the quick list: more regional planning, more affordable housing, an emphasis on fiscal responsibility, increased transparency in government, a carefully streamlined hotel application process, improved business development and better promotion of energy efficiency.

Near the top of Fabiano's list is a desire to strive for balance between new development and maintaining the city's character, particularly as it pertains to city approval of a new luxury hotel.

"First of all, you have to have the right piece of property," he said. "You can't cram everything onto one lot."

Fabiano, a six-month member of the Ketchum Planning and Zoning Commission, was among the P&Z's most critical voices of a large new hotel proposal for southern Ketchum that would have been called The Gateway. For a myriad of reasons developers of The Gateway pulled out, but Fabiano questioned up front whether that piece of property was right for a hotel in the first place.

He admitted the issue is complex.

"We have to be flexible in our thinking. We've got to make sure it is a hotel, that the majority of the development is a hotel," he said. "The city itself is giving away a lot. We're allowing them to build to five stories. We're conceiving affordable housing, employee housing. But the key is that we have to make sure it's a hotel. We've got to make sure the hotel component works as a hotel. I think we need the right hotel for the right piece of property."

Housing is another topic for which Fabiano talked at some length.

"I think affordable housing is key to returning full-time residents to Ketchum," he said.

He pointed out that he has an adult daughter who works as a teacher at Wood River High School.

"She was born and raised here, and yet she can never afford to buy a house here," he said. "I understand the struggles. I understand the cost of living, and that kills me. I'd love to see my kids be able to afford something here. It's frustrating as a father knowing that your daughter can't afford somewhere to live here."

He advocated a change in emphasis on categories used to classify and build affordable housing. He said the valley's municipalities are allowing deed-restricted homes that are beyond the financial reach of 90 percent or more of those in need. He called for more cooperation between the city and developers in producing affordable housing for income categories in need.

"The reality," he said, "is this is not the place I came to."

Ketchum's new non-profit bureaucratic layers, the Ketchum Community Development Corporation and the Ketchum Urban Renewal Agency, respectively, are good starts toward solving many outstanding issues, he said.

"We're lucky we have the URA as a source of income. I'm a true believer in what the CDC has done. I think we're lucky to have that group, and it's been proven in other communities and certainly will be proven here that it works."

Fabiano called for more public involvement as a surefire way to create policy that will work.

"If people participate things get done the way people want things to get done," he said. "That's how we got a downtown master plan, community participation."

Transparency in government is something he said can help get and keep the community involved. Council members should be approachable. The mayor's lunches in which residents can sit down with Mayor Randy Hall are working.

Increased energy efficiency and Leader in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for new buildings are additional areas where the city should work harder.

"The city needs to address it, and as a commissioner I feel really strongly about it," he said. "I think we need to take the lead."

Finally, Fabiano said the six months he's spent on the P&Z has opened his eyes to city government. While he is surprised at how time consuming the process is, things "move slow for a reason."

And that is to try to ensure everyone has his or her say and that due consideration is given.




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