Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Sun Valley annexes Lane Meadows

Safety features, development agreement still in works


By AMY BUSEK
Express Staff Writer


The Lane Meadows master plan shows a 10-lot prototype for the future subdivision.
Photo courtesy of Ben Young

    A site called Lane Meadows just south of Ketchum has been annexed into the city of Sun Valley and declared a low-density residential zone following a Monday City Council meeting.
    Applicant Scott Thomson of Evergreen Ventures originally filed for 12 single-family lots off state Highway 75, but concerns from the adjacent Lane Ranch subdivision’s 15 homeowners prompted Thomson and his engineering team to redraw the property with 10 lots and a reconfigured road.
    The council plans to reconvene Tuesday, June 10, at 10 a.m. to address the plat notes of the subdivision, including the traffic plan, bike path, landscaping maintenance and tree height, as well as the proposal for a 10-lot subdivision. Lane Meadows’ development agreement will be considered on Tuesday, June 17, at 2 p.m.
    Lane Ranch homeowners expressed concerns with property setbacks, blocked views and increased density, following a residents meeting Friday.
    “What’s important here is that seven of these 10 lots are minimum 20,000 to 21,000 square feet,” resident Tim Logan said during the council meeting. “The lots that surround there are substantially bigger than that and we just don’t think it’s compatible.”
    Logan said his lot is .84 acres while the new plan for the Lane Meadows subdivision allocates .65-acre parcels.
    Logan also took issue with “inconsistencies with the setbacks” in terms of the north side of the development having 30-foot setbacks, while the south and east sides have more than 50-foot setbacks.
    “I’d be looking at a wall from my kitchen,” Logan said.
    John Gaeddert, vice president of the Corporation for Land Planning and Engineering, said his firm is working to preserve the views of Lane Ranch residents and that “the proposal for landscaping will go a long way” with plans for 15-foot tree barriers.  He said all buildings are capped at 30 feet, which is 5 feet less than code.
    Council members said they felt better about the proposed development’s road and sidewalk configuration after touring the site before the Monday meeting, and agreed that it would be better for the city to oversee the property rather than Blaine County. Councilman Keith Saks said rejecting the annexation and letting the developer deal with the county would be easiest, but the city would be abdicating its responsibility to residents and the community.




About Comments

Comments with content that seeks to incite or inflame may be removed.

Comments that are in ALL CAPS may be removed.

Comments that are off-topic or that include profanity or personal attacks, libelous or other inappropriate material may be removed from the site. Entries that are unsigned or contain signatures by someone other than the actual author may be removed. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or any other policies governing this site. Use of this system denotes full acceptance of these conditions. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

The comments below are from the readers of mtexpress.com and in no way represent the views of Express Publishing, Inc.

You may flag individual comments. You may also report an inappropriate or offensive comment by clicking here.

Flagging Comments: Flagging a comment tells a site administrator that a comment is inappropriate. You can find the flag option by pointing the mouse over the comment and clicking the 'Flag' link.

Flagging a comment is only counted once per person, and you won't need to do it multiple times.

Proper Flagging Guidelines: Every site has a different commenting policy - be sure to review the policy for this site before flagging comments. In general these types of comments should be flagged:

  • Spam
  • Ones violating this site's commenting policy
  • Clearly unrelated
  • Personal attacks on others
Comments should not be flagged for:
  • Disagreeing with the content
  • Being in a dispute with the commenter

Popular Comment Threads



 Local Weather 
Search archives:


Copyright © 2024 Express Publishing Inc.   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.