The developers of a 116-lot subdivision in Democrat Gulch west of Hailey were awarded approval to extend city sewer services 2 miles into Croy Canyon Monday night.
Spring Canyon Ranch developer Mark Meyers offered $250,000 for construction of a public hockey rink, in the latest of several benefits promised to the city in exchange for extension of its services. The extension will also provide sewer facilities for an elementary school and senior center in Croy Canon.
Supporters of Hailey Ice, a non-profit organization with plans to develop an ice hockey rink in or near Hailey, showed up at Monday's City Council meeting to support the developers and express gratitude for the $250,000. Earlier in the day, the group announced it would not pursue building an ice rink at Lion's Park, at the mouth of the canyon.
"This is a wonderful gift. Thank you," Hailey Parks Coordinator Becky Keefer said to Meyers at the Monday meeting.
It was the latest of several gifts the developer promised during a three-year effort to woo city officials into extending the sewer line. The largest gift has been 10 acres of land and $1 million for a planned eldercare facility to be called Croy Canyon Ranch, which will be situated across the road from Spring Canyon Ranch.
Councilman Don Kiern reminded the council, "The Croy Canyon Ranch senior center was the reason we started all this in the first place. If we don't pass this, these developers are going to build their own sewer treatment facility out there and the city will have nothing."
Meyers has also promised $750,000 in cash to the city, $1 million for the expansion of a bridge over the Big Wood River, impact fees in the amount of $3,500 per unit for the 116-lot development, and a 10 percent premium paid for each of the 116 homes connecting to the sewer line.
Yet the developers still felt opposition from Citizens for Smart Growth and Hailey citizens who opposed the extension on the grounds that it would contribute to sprawl and deplete the wetlands in the area by removing groundwater. City Councilman Fritz Haemmerle continues to oppose extending city services without annexation.
"These developers have lost the incentive to annex," he said after Monday's meeting. "The city will get no property taxes from this."
Blaine County School District is also now eyeing the mouth of Croy Canyon for a new elementary school, which would be made possible by the sewer line extension. Alternate sites for the school, planned for 2014, includes land south of Bellevue and in Carey.
The Spring Canyon Ranch plan must proceed through a lengthy approval process in Blaine County before it can be implemented.
