With the potential rezone of the Warm Springs base area and possible large-scale hotel development at the Warm Springs Ranch Resort, Ketchum is trying to get an idea of potential traffic issues.
To that end, Stephen Waldinger, director of transportation for engineering company Forsgren Associates, presented a draft of the Warm Springs Road Transportation Study at a City Council meeting on Monday, April 7.
Using data complied by Hales Engineering, Waldinger said development along the road from the state Highway 75 intersection to the Warm Springs base would produce a 7.5 percent annual growth rate in the number of car trips, with 12,688 trips per day by 2025.
According to the draft, while no steps for traffic mitigation are yet necessary, by 2018 there will be enough car trips on Warm Springs Road to warrant a signal at the intersection with Lewis Street and turnout lanes at the intersection with Tenth Street.
In addition to providing computer-generated models with possible intersection configurations, Waldinger also showed pictures of existing line-of-sight problems along the road, caused by power poles, piled snow banks, fences and real estate signs.
Waldinger said these impediments could be dangerous, especially on the north side of the road where the bike path is located.
Ketchum Economic and Community Development Director Lisa Horowitz said the goal is for the council to give policy directives on improvements and safety mitigation by May so that the Planning and Zoning Commission can take them into account while going through the Warm Springs Ranch Resort's application process.
However, for that to be done, the council requested that the consultants take another look at the numbers, as concern was expressed that the estimated buildout of the Warm Springs area appeared too high. Horowitz said city staff wanted to start at the "worst-case scenario" in terms of maximum development and then scale back from there.
In other Ketchum news:
· While looking at a possible revision to the city's in-lieu parking fee, in which a developer can pay cash instead of providing on-site parking spaces, City Attorney Ben Worst said that, as worded, the ordinance could be challenged as an illegal tax. As with Sun Valley's recently repealed linkage fee, Worst said cities in Idaho are not allowed to impose a revenue-generating tax without permission from the state.
The current city code requires the in-lieu fee to be determined annually by the council, but this has not been done since 2006.
City planner Mark Goodman recommended adopting a fee of $38,500 per parking space, but Worst said the city would need to rework the ordinance to make sure it is legal before making any changes.
· City economic development consultant Rich Caplan was on had to present the latest recommendation for an annexation fee, which is currently a minimum of $500 for an annexation under one acre and a maximum of $1,000 plus $50 per acre.
Caplan said the fee should be comprised of a "buy-in" to share the cost of capital assets, planned future capital projects and a contribution to annual operations.
However, Caplan said the council may determine that an annexation may provide a net fiscal benefit to the city and, therefore, choose to reduce or waive the operating portion of the fee, which is approximately 15 percent of the total.
The recommended fee was $2,538 per residential unit and $7,555 per 1,000 square feet of commercial development.
Using this fee and the proposed Warm Springs Ranch Resort, Caplan calculated that if approved, the development would face $106,301 for the project components that would be annexed.
The annexation fee has to be approved in an ordinance before the city could collect.
