The Ketchum City Council made it clear on Monday that a $650,000 offer from developer David Hutchinson for an affordable housing in-lieu payment for the Residences at Thunder Spring would not be sufficient.
At the regular council meeting, Hutchinson proposed the cash alternative to construction of nine affordable housing units he had previously proposed as part of a plan denied by the council last month.
"We brought a housing project that's been much debated and want to replace that proposal with a fee that's commensurate with the project," Hutchinson said. "We're trying to move forward."
The previous proposal, which was bitterly criticized by residents of the nearby Bigwood subdivision, included a delayed substitute for housing commitments made as part of the original Thunder Spring planned-unit development, as well as the balance of the housing requirement not provided onsite at the Residences.
Consisting of 24 fractional units, the Residences has been approved and is scheduled for completion in about two years. The high-end project would include four units of employee housing built onsite and would require another 3,500 square feet built elsewhere. Hutchinson also owes the city 4,800 square feet of affordable housing and 2,500 square feet of non-profit office space from the original Thunder Spring development.
Hutchinson said it's important for the developers to resolve this issue quickly, because a certificate of occupancy cannot be given for the Residences until the affordable housing requirement is mitigated.
However, the housing plan was shelved due to uncertainty over the legal ownership of the land in question, which is on a four-acre parcel between the Ketchum Cemetery and the southern end of the Bigwood Golf Course. While Hutchinson claimed his Valley Properties Inc. has a right to develop the land, Bigwood Homeowners Association members have countered that they have rights to the land as well through language in the original development agreement.
Councilman Baird Gourlay repeated his recommendation to pursue a declaratory judgement that would determine the rightful ownership of the land. Such a judgement would also determine the price at which the city could purchase the land if it chooses to condemn it to build housing or a fire station.
However, Community and Economic Development Director Lisa Horowitz said that process could take up to a year, a timeline that clearly does not fit with Hutchinson's schedule.
"We need to make our decision in 30 to 60 days or we're going to get behind the eight ball," Hutchinson said.
In hopes of speeding the approval along, Hutchinson brought the offer of $650,000, calculated from the difference between the cost of constructing the nine units and the estimated revenue from sales.
This methodology didn't find much favor with the council or public, though.
"This may work for the applicant, but it doesn't work for the city," Councilman Larry Helzel said.
Blaine County Housing Authority Executive Director Jim Fackrell was on hand to explain that Hutchinson's offer was much too low considering the cost of construction in the north valley.
Fackrell said that whereas Hutchinson's proposal, which estimated construction costs at approximately $60 per square foot was "woefully inadequate." He said cost of building the housing would be closer to $375 per square foot.
Fackrell added that another possibility would be for Hutchinson to purchase existing housing and sell it to applicants on the housing authority's list.
The public hearing on this issue was continued to Sept. 9, and the council will meet this Thursday in executive session to discuss the possibility of pursuing a declaratory judgement on the status of the proposed housing site.
War of words continues
Despite the council's denial of the proposed Thunder Spring affordable housing project, the battle over the highly contested development has lingered.
Ketchum resident and vocal opponent Ruth Lieder sent a letter to the editor of the Idaho Mountain Express in which she reported that she had received a letter on July 18 from developer Dave Hutchinson's attorney, Ed Lawson, that she "cease further defamatory statements" regarding the project.
Lieder had two letters published in the Mountain Express in July arguing against the affordable housing plan. The letter from Lawson, which warned of "expensive formal legal proceedings," amounted to an attack on her First Amendment rights, Lieder asserted.
In an interview Monday, Lawson said the letter wasn't intended to keep critics from speaking out, but only to ensure that the comments were within the limits of the law in regards to defamation.
"You can't say something to disparage, impugn or accuse of criminal conduct," Lawson said. "My client's reputation is very important for him to do business here and he doesn't want to be labeled with the characteristic that he can't be counted on."
Lawson said Lieder's comment regarding the possibility of Hutchinson's providing the city with a $600,000 "payoff" was false and an attempt to incense people.
"People can say what they want to say," Lawson said. "But they have to do it lawfully and should try to do it in good taste."
