Hotel builders in Ketchum need not worry about providing community housing even though the city's waiver to the requirement expired June 1.
Ketchum's Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously agreed to extend the waiver to June 1, 2013, meaning currently approved hotels—including Bald Mountain Lodge, Hotel Ketchum and Warm Springs Ranch Resort—would still be immune to the costly requirement if they start building when planned.
Normally, hotels are required to provide community housing equivalent to at least 20 percent of gross floor area.
The P&Z didn't just extend the waiver. It added a condition that hotel properties be maintained to the city's standards in the time leading up to construction. This particularly pertains to the Bald Mountain Lodge property along Main Street across from the Best Western Kentwood Lodge. P&Z and City Council members have complained that the vacant site is unsightly and unkempt.
City Associate Planner Mark Goodman said the community-housing waiver was put in place in 2007 as an incentive to persuade hotel developers to build in Ketchum. Since then, several hotel projects have been approved but wouldn't start construction in time to meet the June 1 deadline.
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The extended waiver covers these hotels and, the P&Z agreed, acts as an incentive to start building when planned.
Lisa Horowitz, Ketchum's director of community and economic development, said that after three years have passed, the P&Z can again extend the waiver if it thinks the incentive is still warranted due to a struggling economy and market conditions.
This waiver does not exempt hotel developers from their employee-housing requirement, which mandates providing housing for at least 25 percent of hotel workers.
Trevon Milliard: tmilliard@mtexpress.com
The Bald Mountain Lodge hotel in Ketchum is one of several planned hotels included in the waiver. Photo by Mountain Express
