Will new hotels kill the Sun Valley area's soul?
Hotels are just the newest alleged soul killers out there and have been cited again and again as Public Enemy No. 1 in hearings in Ketchum, where two hotel projects have been approved and two more are on the way.
Alleged "soul killers" started popping up when planning and zoning ordinances were put on the books in the 1970s and public hearings were required before major developments could go forward.
Highway billboards may have been the first alleged soul killers, although ranchers in the early 1900s might have argued that ski lifts irreparably damaged the area's idyllic and pastoral nature.
The ski lifts stayed, but residents later dispatched billboards, sometimes with vigilante zeal in the middle of the night.
Since then the valley has seen a long list of alleged soul killers: condominiums, a freeway, commercial strip development, neon signs, backlighted signs, sandwich boards, residential subdivisions, big box stores, three- to five-story buildings, banks, chain stores, cell towers, rip-rap, affordable housing, tree removal, gated subdivisions, berms and tall power poles. And according to some, life hasn't been the same since the introduction of cell phones, snowboards and shaped skis.
Some alleged soul killers were guilty as charged and were run out of the area. Others were found innocent and became part of the life of the area. The area's soul remained intact.
New Orleans, however, is an example of a city that lost its soul when Hurricane Katrina flattened and flooded low-lying areas and sent most of the population fleeing to other parts of the country.
New Orleans' soul was its people, and when they left, jazz music, Creole cooking and Mardi Gras left with them.
So, too, are people the soul of the Sun Valley area. They are people inspired by the contrasts and challenges of life in the mountains.
New hotels in Ketchum will not be found to be soul killers. They are more likely to be soul savers. If new hotels are built, future generations will identify them as the beginning of a renaissance for tourism, which will also need improved air service and marketing to thrive.
So, is the area's soul really at risk?
Indeed it is. Weakened tourism and joblessness are the biggest threats and could eventually breed the real soul killers: bankruptcy, poverty and hopelessness.
The Sun Valley area is still alive with energy, initiative and ideas that are richly endowed by a beautiful setting. Its soul is intact. With some good business decisions and new hotels, it will remain so.
