While design consultant Nore Winter continued to work through his suggestions for revitalizing the Warm Springs base area to the Ketchum Planning and Zoning Commission, members of the public asked what could be done to this end in the short term.
At a meeting on Monday, Feb. 11, the Boulder, Colo.-based Winter picked up where he left off after his visit to the commission last month, discussing how density bonuses could be provided as an incentive for constructing mixed-use buildings.
After looking at other mixed-use projects in comparable locations, Winter recommended a maximum allowable floor area ratio of 2.25. This means a building on a 1,000 square foot lot could contain up to 2,250 square feet of floor space if the developer takes advantage of all the incentives, which include the creation of affordable housing, office space, conference rooms, restaurants and retail shops.
The potential development would be allowed if the city were to create a new zoning district encompassed in the area between Howard Drive and the Warm Springs lifts, and Gates Road and Skiway Drive. After recommendation from the city council, the district would also include a sizable piece of Sun Valley Co. property, extending west to incorporate the Greyhawk parking lot area.
In addition, Winter recommended using design regulations to break up the mass and scale of any one project.
By allowing greater density, the intention is to attract a large-scale hotel development, which is viewed by many as a linchpin for the revitalization of this area.
As with previous meetings on the issue, a number of people in the packed City Hall meeting room voiced concerns over the possibility of a five or six story hotel sitting between existing residences and Bald Mountain, as the area's mostly residential buildings are between only one and three stories.
Winter provided conceptual plans that angered a few property owners despite the fact that it was merely an illustration of what kinds of development would be allowed within the new district.
However, Freddie Johnson, a resident and board member of International Village in Warm Springs, saw a much more timely problem.
"The idea of getting all 42 owners agreeing (to sell) isn't feasible," Johnson said of using his condominium complex's property for a new development. "We need to get a realistic view and work with what we have."
While it was agreed that Sun Valley Co. holds an ideal, and currently vacant, location for a large hotel, they have made no mention of any intention to build there, leaving the city with relatively few options for a development in the near future.
The most viable piece of property belongs to Ketchum developer Brian Barsotti, who owns the Baldy Base Camp property at the corner of Picabo Street and Skiway Drive.
At the meeting Barsotti said he has been trying to build a hotel for the past six years, rather than going ahead with residential units, because the city made that request. However, he explained that his planning has resulted in a different calculation for density than that provided by Winter.
"The formulas are great in theory, but in reality will never work," Barsotti said. "At a floor area ratio of 2.25 we can't get a hotel built."
He said that he would give more detail on what it will take to make a hotel project pencil out at the next commission meeting on this issue, which takes place on March 24.
As the meeting, which clearly stirred emotions, came to an end Commissioner Sam Williams tried to put the overall objective of the new district into perspective.
"We're looking out over 20 years and trying to put together what the community wants to see," Williams said. "I don't think there's an immediate solution, but we need to let developers know what the process could be."
Earlier in the meeting, the commission recommended a change to the city's definition of a hotel that requires that 75 percent of the total project's square footage be used for rooms, restaurant and other recreational facilities, such as a spa. Currently, the definition is based solely on the percentage of hotel beds relative to other residential uses, such as fractional ownership units, which Community and Economic Development Director Lisa Horowitz said failed to take into account the numerous other services and spaces a hotel could provide.
This definition is pertinent as the city looks to provide density and height bonuses in an attempt to attract a hotel development.
Warm Springs resident Freddie Johnson, who?s also on the International Village board of directors, said the city needs to work with available properties to make the revitalization of Warm Springs village a reality in the near future. Johnson and around 50 other members of the public crowded into Ketchum City Hall to listen to the Planning and Zoning Commission discuss possible zoning changes. Photo by Willy Cook
