Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Annexation at last

Last-minute compromises close the deal on annexing 138 acres of land into Ketchum for a ski base vil


By TREVON MILLIARD
Express Staff Writer

Ketchum City Councilman Baird Gourlay stands on the bridge crossing the Big Wood River at the River Run base of Bald Mountain. Behind him are the 138 acres the council agreed to annex into the city on Thursday. He’s holding a diagram of the hotel and retail building layout on the eastern bank of the river. Photo by Willy Cook

Ketchum grew by 138 acres Thursday when the City Council voted to annex land at the River Run base of Bald Mountain.

The decision completes the first step toward Sun Valley Resort's building its ski-in, ski-out hotel and residential development on the site. The company applied for the annexation in August.

"Since then, we've done nothing but live and breathe this project," Ketchum Mayor Randy Hall said.

The mayor and council can now breathe a sigh of relief but must make it short. They still need to adopt an ordinance formally annexing the property into the city and vote on a development agreement. Both votes are expected within two months. The city also needs to approve the project's 19-acre commercial core consisting of the hotel, retail space and a possible sports clinic.

The decision to annex required some last-minute compromises between the city and developers, with both sides making concessions. Wally Huffman, Sun Valley's director of resort development, started Thursday's meeting with several compromises concerning an active park, community housing and building cabins in the forest along the Big Wood River. The council agreed that all were sufficient.

"I am incredibly impressed with what has come back to us," Councilman Baird Gourlay said.

Becky Zimmerman, Sun Valley Resort's development consultant, laid out the offers. The first was that Sun Valley would donate a rectangular, 1.5-acre parcel to the city instead of the previously proposed 1.38-acre, oddly shaped piece of land. The city could then do whatever it wants there.

She said the company would also allow a 0.75 percent fee per housing unit sold instead of 0.25 percent. Buyers of finished units would pay the fee for only the initial sale of finished homes, with the city collecting the money. Total collection from the fees is estimated at $6 million, if all units sell at the anticipated price. Zimmerman said the city could then use part of this for building community housing and the rest for an active park. A three-acre active park on site has been a demand of the city's Parks and Recreation Department and many area residents for months.

Zimmerman added the caveat that if Sun Valley collaborates with the city in developing an active park in the Ketchum area of at least three acres within three years, then the 0.75 percent real-estate fee would be reduced to 0.5 percent. Huffman has talked of building a park near the red barn on Sun Valley Road.

The only term to which the council didn't unanimously agree was the forest along the Big Wood River at the southern edge of the property. Zimmerman said cabins would be placed at a maximum of two per acre, with maximum footprints of 2,500 square feet. That's a possible 15 cabins on the 7.5 acres, with no building within 100 feet of the river or Trail Creek.

Council members Larry Helzel and Nina Jonas wanted no development in the "sensitive" wetland forest. Helzel conceded because a 2-2 vote on this one issue would call on Mayor Hall to break the tie, and he seemed to be in favor of building.

"That being said, I would prefer us naysayers suck it up and agree to unanimity on this issue," Helzel said.

When it came time to vote on the annexation, Jonas was the only council member to not approve every condition, taking offense to the cabins and to waiving a $3 million annexation fee. She said the fee should be waived only if the cabins aren't built.

The three other councilmen voted in favor of the annexation fee waiver and cabin development. Therefore, those conditions went through.

"Let me be the first to welcome Sun Valley into Ketchum, Idaho," Hall said.

Trevon Milliard: tmilliard@mtexpress.com




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