For the week of March 26 - April 1, 2003

Council mixed on SV zoning changes

P&Z plan would promote affordable housing

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By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

Sun Valley City Council members Wednesday gave a lukewarm reception to a proposed set of zoning amendments that would require new developments in Elkhorn Village and Sun Valley Village to have commercial space.

Council President Latham Williams was the most outspoken during the panel’s preliminary review of the changes proposed by the city Planning and Zoning Commission.

Williams emphatically said he is not in favor of requiring commercial space in new developments in the city’s Commercial Center zoning district.

"I cannot support this the way it’s written," he said.

Williams noted that he might support language in the zoning ordinance to provide incentives—such as a building height bonus—to developers to incorporate commercial-use areas into their projects.

At issue is a proposed ordinance put forth by the P&Z earlier this month to add and make changes to the regulations that govern the CC zoning district. The district is essentially composed of Sun Valley Village and Elkhorn Village.

City Council members on Dec. 19 instructed the P&Z to consider how to limit development applications that propose only large-scale residential uses—rather than the intended mix of residential and commercial uses. At the same time, the council approved a 120-day moratorium on new applications for development projects in the CC district to allow the city time to execute any approved changes.

The moratorium expires April 19, but can be extended by the council.

The moratorium and the request by the council for changes to the ordinance came in part as a response to a proposed development project for Elkhorn’s four-acre Sunshine Parcel. Called Sun Villas, the project is proposed to include four approximately 60-foot residential buildings that include no commercial space.

The proposed ordinance notes that the city should encourage commercial uses and "a mix of housing types and affordability" in the CC district to make the district generally compatible with the city’s comprehensive plan.

Issued just one day before Wednesday’s City Council meeting, the P&Z’s recommendations include a vast array of changes designed to restore and maintain the commercial viability of the city’s two village centers.

The key changes proposed by the P&Z include:

• Requiring multi-family residential developments on parcels greater than four acres to provide a minimum of 100 square feet of "net usable floor space" devoted to commercial activities for each residential unit, but only 50 square feet of commercial space for every "compact dwelling unit" of less than 1,200 square feet.
  
   
• Reducing the maximum building height in the zone from 64 feet to 44 feet, except for developments that provide designated types and amounts of commercial space or affordable, deed-restricted community housing.
  
   
• Allowing projects to have greater density if at least 20 percent of the units are designated as deed-restricted community housing.
  
   
• Requiring fewer parking spaces to be developed for smaller residential units.

The proposed changes were presented Wednesday by Jack Cloud, Sun Valley community development director.

Cloud noted that the "main thrust" of the proposed changes is to require commercial space in new developments in the CC district.

However, Williams said he did not intend the P&Z to develop language that requires commercial space, which in some instances may not be supported by the real-estate market. "My issue on this was not requiring a commercial component," he said.

Cloud said he believes it is unlikely developers will propose a commercial component in new projects unless they are mandated to do so. "If you don’t require it, you won’t get it," he said.

P&Z Commissioner Blair Boand noted that representatives for developer CG-Elkhorn—which owns the site of the defunct Elkhorn Resort—have indicated they are not averse to including a limited amount of commercial space in their redevelopment plans for the site.

Council members Ann Agnew, Lud Renick and Kevin Laird did not offer outright support—or objection—to the P&Z proposal. However, they indicated to Mayor David Wilson they do support conducting a public hearing on the proposal rather than remanding it back to P&Z for further consideration.

The City Council will hold a public hearing on the proposal at its next meeting Thursday, April 17.

Wilson Wednesday said he is in favor of at least one element of the P&Z amendments. "I think the community housing is an important component," he said.

Cloud noted that the amendments—if approved—would not apply to the Sun Villas application unless the proposal was denied and a new plan is resubmitted.

 

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