Behemoth Hailey development plan denied
P&Z won’t be "strong-armed" to endorse master plan
"I just can’t say, ‘Ooh, I’ll just cower.’
I’ll just turn him down. Hailey is strong. We don’t need to be pressured into
building. They’ll come."
P&Z Commissioner Greg James after making his motion for denial.
By TRAVIS PURSER
Express Staff Writer
Angered by what they perceived as pressure by the developer, the Hailey
Planning and Zoning Commission last week refused to "endorse" a proposed massive
commercial development at the town’s northern end.
The North Hailey Plaza, with its 85,000 square feet of floor area and 240
parking spaces, would have been one of the biggest and most visible commercial
developments Hailey has seen.
California-based developer Farallon Development Services, Inc.,
represented by Boise architect and project manager James Murray, appeared at an unusually
packed city hall on Tuesday of last week. Murray presented the firm’s master plan to
build a major grocery store, three retail/office buildings and a gas station on the west
side of Main Street.
With the cooperation of city planner Carl Hjelm and other members of the
city’s staff, Farallon was asking the P&Z for an informal "endorsement"
of its proposed project.
More than 50 local residents had shown up by the meeting’s start at 7
p.m. to hear Murray speak and to give their own comments. By 8:30, late arrivers, some
with their spouses and children, stood at the back of the room and in the hallway outside.
Mostly, the local residents questioned the need for another big grocery
store in Hailey or decried what they perceived as strip mall development.
Debrah Vignes, sitting near the front row with a yellow pad of notes, was
one of the first to speak during the public comment session. Vignes said she was
unfamiliar with the way the development process works, but then she unleashed a barrage of
pointed questions, including: What does "endorsement" mean? What standards does
the P&Z use to decide whether to give an endorsement?
City planner Carl Hjelm, while admitting the application was unusual, said
that with an "endorsement," the developer could "connote some reliance from
the public bodies that future plans in line with tonight’s presentation would be
approved."
The city planning process would still require the project to undergo
extensive review and revision—first with a series of at least four meetings to
subdivide the project’s 7.5 acres, and then with extensive design-review meetings for
each building. Because of that, commissioner Greg James said he was "having a hard
time understanding how strict this endorsement will be."
Members of the P&Z denied "endorsement" of the project
because, they said, Murray was "pressuring" them to accept a hastily
thrown-together plan.
"I’m sorry the applicant feels he can strong-arm us with a
different tactic to go around the corner and do it a different way," Commissioner
Greg James said just after making his motion for denial. "But I just can’t say,
‘Ooh, I’ll just cower.’ I’ll just turn him down. Hailey is strong. We
don’t need to be pressured into building. They’ll come."
The applause that followed James’ comments was not the first that
reverberated in the city hall that evening. Comments from several local residents were
also applauded.
As for the actual design of the project, nearly everyone criticized it.
Newly appointed commissioner Eddy Svidgal said the project "looks
like an outlet mall" because of hundreds of feet of blank wall space that would front
Main Street.
Also, Svidgal did not like the concrete-block construction of the proposed
grocery store.
"I think this building is going to look tired in 10 years,"
Svidgal said, comparing it to the existing Paul’s Market and King’s Market,
which he suggested are ugly and outdated.
The visibly shaken Murray, interviewed just after the meeting, said that
he "welcomed open feedback" from the commission and that he was not trying to
"pressure" the commission in any way.
Murray said he would have preferred that his master plan be tabled, which
in the usual meaning of the word would have allowed the plan to receive future
consideration by the P&Z after major revisions. Just what Thursday’s denial means
for Murray, however, is unclear. With the informal nature of the endorsement review
process, city planner Hjelm said during a telephone interview Tuesday, it’s possible
Murray could revise his master plan and present it again to P&Z despite the denial.
Daunted, but not beaten, Murray declared after the meeting,
"We’ll take that denial and work with it."
