 Click to enlarge (PDF) Graphic courtesy of Design Workshop
This rendering shows the proposed sites for 30 single-family homes, part of Sun Valley Co.’s latest development. If given final plat approval by the Sun Valley City Council, the project would also include five parcels for multi-family homes and the new Gun Club 9 golf course.
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The Sun Valley City Council has all but given the green light to the city's largest landowner, Sun Valley Co., for construction of the resort's large-scale Gun Club residential development.
At a special workshop on Tuesday, council members took a straw poll, indicating their approval of the final plat for the development, which would consist of 30 lots for single-family homes and 330 condominium units on more than 300 acres at the northeast edge of Sun Valley Village. The site, located along Trail Creek Road, includes the new White Clouds Nine golf course.
Three streets would be built to access the development—Sun Peak Drive, Diamond Back Road and Monarch Lane.
In February, the council approved the preliminary plat, a related zone map amendment and a conditional-use permit for the planned-unit development.
Previously, Sun Valley Co. General Manager Wally Huffman said the company has been working on the plan since 2002 when the Sun Valley mayor required it to create a master plan.
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Monday's meeting was the result of a number of conditions put in place during the earlier approval, including a letter from the Sun Valley Water and Sewer District that it has the capacity to serve the new homes, as well as a plan to mitigate the city's inclusionary housing code. However, the latter condition ended up being a moot point, as the council officially rescinded the housing ordinance in July, due to questionable constitutionality of the requirement.
Before being wiped off the books, Sun Valley's inclusionary housing code mandated that 15 percent of the total number of dwelling units be set aside for inclusionary housing.
Councilman Dave Chase, a member of the subcommittee looking into the housing requirements on the Sun Valley Co. project, said that while the city will continue to encourage the resort to provide workforce housing, there is currently no legal requirement.
"To leave it in there would have been a charade," Chase said in an interview on Wednesday. "It wouldn't be productive and would possibly be expensive. We don't want to cause a legal battle that would have to be paid for by our citizens."
As for the other major condition, Sun Valley Water & Sewer District Manager Pat McMahon told the council that there is enough capacity in the system to provide these services to the subdivision.
On Monday, the council agreed with Rebecca Zimmerman, an owner and president of the international planning firm Design Workshop, to allow construction on infrastructure such as roads to begin before the receipt of a "will serve" letter from the Water and Sewer District, which has yet to be officially penned.
Zimmerman and Huffman said they would like to break ground on the new roads as soon as the council approves the final plat, an action on which city officials will vote at a special meeting on Sept. 11.
However, the company will not be allowed to sell any of the lots until that letter is received and the final plat is recorded.
