"This is truly a historic moment for our town."
Ketchum Mayor Randy Hall was not using hyperbole when he prefaced a unanimous vote by the City Council to approve the Warm Springs Ranch Resort applications for a planned-unit development and annexation into the city.
At a special meeting on Thursday, the second in as many nights, the council wrapped up an approximately two-year planning process, including over a dozen public hearings, on the proposed five-star, 78-acre resort.
With the council's approval, Park City-based developer DDRM Greatplace can move forward with its plans to construct a 538,151-square-foot luxury hotel along with a nine-hole golf course, spa, event house, villas, estate lots and workforce housing for 93 employees. The hotel, as currently designed, will include nine floors, one of which will be completely underground, and have a maximum height of 93 feet, well above the 44-foot zoning restriction.
The council's decision essentially means that 67 acres of the property will be annexed into the city of Ketchum for development under the plans put forth by DDRM. Designs of individual buildings, however, must still be approved by the city.
The approval comes one month after the Ketchum Planning and Zoning Commission recommended the project for approval after the council remanded the issue in the wake of a requested size increase by the developer.
With the 30,000 extra square feet for circulation space and a 5 percent increase for "flex space," which translates into another 30,000 square feet that can be used largely at the developer's discretion, the project's Block 1 could total up to 620,146 square feet. As planned, this part of the property will contain a hotel, townhomes, workforce housing and the Warm Springs Ranch Restaurant.
<
"The decision-making process has been extremely difficult," Councilman Curtis Kemp said during the final deliberation. "But the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks and justify the departure from the (zoning) regulations."
Overall cost of construction for the project has been estimated to fall between $300 million and $600 million. It would include a minimum of 120 "hot beds," those available in the short-term rental pool, as well as 25 villas, 24 townhomes and two estate lots.
DDRM attorney Ed Lawson said the developer will bring the city a preliminary design for city review by the end of the fiscal year (October) and apply for formal design review by the end of the calendar year. Lawson said city fees associated with those applications and the annexation would total approximately $330,000.
As with most of the public hearings on the project, the meeting featured testimony from a number of Warm Springs residents who said the size of the hotel contradicted the intent of the city's comprehensive plan, and its design is not in harmony with the surrounding neighborhood.
Neighbor Bob Brennan, who has been an outspoken opponent of the hotel design, said he would decide within the next two weeks if he will sue the city over the decision.
Councilman Kemp noted that the comprehensive plan also contains a section regarding economic development and giving a voice to the local business community. Throughout the planning process, many business owners and organizations, including the Wood River Economic Partnership and the Sun Valley-Ketchum Chamber & Visitors Bureau, called for approval of the resort as a means to kick-start the economy.
"Our business is hospitality—it's the base of our economy. It's vital that we do a better job than we have been," Councilman Charles Conn said. "This has been an emotional process and I respect the people in opposition, but we represent constituents that aren't just in close proximity to the project."
DDRM CEO Stan Castleton has estimated that during the 15 years after the project's completion, the city would collect $36.3 million in taxes and fees and experience $389 million in new retail sales from hotel guests and resort residents.
As well, in lieu of creating affordable community housing, the developer proposed a real estate transfer fee that would charge 0.5 percent on all for-sale units or lots in the project, with the proceeds going to a city-managed housing fund. He estimated that that would net the city $3 million when all of the units are first sold. The transfer fee would also be imposed on every subsequent re-sale of the properties. Though the legality of such as fee has been questioned by some residents, it was deemed legal by City Attorney Susan Buxton.
Another issue that was repeated during the hearings was the changing demographics in Ketchum, which has seen more second homes and fewer residents between 20 and 40 years old.
"The youth are leaving the valley," Gourlay said. "This will provide jobs for people contemplating leaving."
Conn, along with the other council members, emphasized the importance of the development agreement, which will detail all of the fees owed to the city, as well as nail down the construction phasing.
Lawson said that while a phasing plan has yet to be finalized, the developer is committed to obtaining a building permit within 30 months and building the core hotel, workforce housing and golf course, as well as completing the Warm Springs Creek restoration, within 10 years.
"I know not everyone is happy, but the alternative is a dead community with no life or business and that's intolerable," Hall said.
The next step is for the developer and city to negotiate the development agreement, for which a public workshop is scheduled for March 2 and a public hearing for March 16.
Jon Duval: jduval@mtexpress.com
