The issue of access to a riparian area along the Big Wood River was raised during a public workshop held last week by the Hailey Planning and Zoning Commission to discuss developer Jeff Pfaeffle's plans for Colorado Gulch Preserve, a 90-unit housing development on the east side of Broadford Road.
Pfaeffle has filed an annexation request with the city of Hailey for 21 acres on the east side of Broadford Road, just south of the city limits.
Pfaeffle's plan for Colorado Gulch Preserve also calls for removing an existing two-thirds-mile-long trail through cottonwood forest and riparian zones on the east side of the river between Heagle Park and Colorado Gulch Bridge. The plan proposes construction of a new trail that would run east from Heagle Park, away from the Big Wood River to the junction of Broadford Road and Colorado Gulch Road.
Pfaeffle said the people who use the existing trail are trespassing and that it will be relocated to keep hikers out of "valuable riverfront property."
Not everyone was pleased with the plan.
"A hiker's destination is the Colorado Gulch Bridge, not Broadford Road," said Hailey Parks and Lands Board representative Kathy Noble at the Nov. 2 meeting.
Six years ago, Pfaeffle and his partner, Grant Stevens, offered the city the existing river trail, a nature park and four acres of day parks on both sides of Colorado Gulch Bridge in exchange for annexation of property in the floodplain, closer to the river than is the property in the current request.
"This is an example of a development that adds value to the community, one that improves the quality of life for all and not just the wealthy few who can afford to own riverfront property," Stevens wrote in a guest opinion in the Idaho Mountain Express at the time.
The Hailey City Council denied the original request for annexation because much of the land slated for development was in the floodplain. Since then, Pfaeffle and his partner have targeted property out of the floodplain for annexation.
It seems they have also reconsidered the value of owning riverfront property.
"Someone with a home there wouldn't want people walking through their backyard," Pfaeffle said at the Nov. 2 meeting.
In January 2008, the Stevens family donated 103 acres on both sides of the Big Wood River in the vicinity of lower Colorado Gulch, including three-quarters of a mile of riverfront on river's west bank, into a voluntary conservation easement with the Wood River Land Trust. The agreement reserved a right to develop one home site within the area.
Grant Stevens said at the time that his family wanted to preserve the property for the benefit of the entire valley community—"to protect the animals, to remain undeveloped and to provide a place for fishing, hiking and reflecting."
The plans Pfaeffle presented last week would eliminate the river trail in favor of keeping two-thirds of a mile of private access for a home and guest house close to the river. That property is within Blaine County and is not part of the annexation request.
Pfaeffle's plan also calls for increasing density "on the bench" along Broadford Road from the one unit per acre allowed under county zoning to four to five units per acre by annexing the 21 acres and hooking into city water and sewer services.
Wood River Land Trust Senior Project Coordinator Kathryn Goldman said granting public access to the existing trail along the east side of the river would be allowed under the terms of the conservation easement as long as it does not harm the conservation values on the property.
Nathan Welch, interim executive director of Citizens for Smart Growth, suggested that the P&Z seek a review from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game of potential wildlife impacts from a river trail. Welch also suggested the possibility of expanding fishermen's access beyond the high-water mark.
Planning Director Beth Robrahn said she would explore both possibilities.
The workshop will continue on Monday, Nov. 16, at 5:30 p.m. at Hailey City Hall.
Tony Evans: tevans@mtexpress.com
A hiker heads south from Heagle Park toward Colorado Gulch Bridge on a trail that has been used for many years by Hailey residents. Developer Jeff Pfaeffle has plans to redirect the trail to the junction of Broadford Road and Colorado Gulch Road as part of an annexation request currently before the Hailey Planning Department.
