For the week of July 2 - 8, 2003

A proposal to build a 105-unit condominium complex along Village Way in Elkhorn was revived last week by the Sun Valley City Council, after the city Planning and Zoning Commission had rejected the design and recommended denial of an associated subdivision application. The project is called Sun Villas. A computer-generated image of the original proposal, above, shows the potential view of the project from Village Way. However, the project will now be redesigned before it is reconsidered by the city. Architects rendering by Michael Doty Associates

Sun Villas project
given second chance

Successful appeal to council
sends plan back to P&Z

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"The problem is that on the west and south sides of the project, it’s just too close to be that big."

— LATHAM WILLIAMS, Sun Valley City Council president

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By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

The developers of a proposed 105-unit condominium project in Elkhorn Village saw their plans revived last week, after an appeal to the Sun Valley City Council succeeded in getting their previously denied application sent back to the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Before an audience abundant with project opponents, council members Tuesday, June 24, voted 4-0 to remand the Sun Villas development proposal back to the P&Z so the plans could be modified and reconsidered.

The settlement came during an appeal by Sun Villas representatives of an April decision by the P&Z to deny a design review application to build four residential structures on the 4.26-acre "Sunshine Parcel," located immediately north of the former Elkhorn Resort.

The compromise of sorts delighted a contingent of Sun Villas associates but drew strong disapproval from a crowd of opponents, many of whom reside in developments surrounding the Sunshine Parcel.

Several of the opponents spoke out at the onset of the four-hour council meeting.

Barry Luboviski, an attorney representing the homeowners association of Sunburst condominiums, argued that the proposed project demonstrated a "lack of sensitivity" to neighboring properties. He added that he believes the application for four tall residential structures "totally ignores" the intention of the Commercial Center zoning district.

Merrill Hayes, a resident of the Indian Springs development, located immediately west of the Sunshine Parcel, agreed with Luboviski. "I don’t think that it’s that they didn’t consider their neighbors, but it’s that they just didn’t care," she said.

Michael Doty, architect of the proposed project, gave a lengthy presentation of the plans that were denied by the P&Z in April. The P&Z reviewed the application at five different meetings over a six-month period.

Doty said developers Elkhorn Resort LLC and Black Diamond Development tried to be sensitive to residents of adjacent condominium developments while establishing their plans.

He noted that the design was reconfigured earlier this year, after the P&Z said its height and overall size would have too great of an impact on other residential developments.

The four buildings were proposed to reach heights of approximately 60 feet, ranging in size from approximately 87,000 square feet to 94,000 square feet.

Doty argued that the design was drafted in a way that reduced the project’s overall mass and imposition on surrounding properties. "Nowhere have we put the taller portions of these projects next to the property lines," he said. "Every project is going to have an impact on the neighbors. What we’re trying to do is truly mitigate that."

Attorney for the appellants, J. Evan Robertson, had filed the appeal on eight separate counts, including one that alleged the P&Z denial of the project was "tantamount to a de facto, illegal downzone" of the Sunshine Parcel property.

Robertson told council members that the developers spent almost $200,000 to redesign the project to please the P&Z, only to see it denied in an abbreviated hearing on April 22.

He said the proposal complied with the existing regulations for the CC zoning district, but could be reworked if the applicants were given a second chance to make a proposal to the P&Z. "Is it different than the surrounding properties?" he hypothetically asked. "Of course it is, it’s in a different zone."

Councilwoman Ann Agnew acknowledged Robertson’s argument in her comments on the matter. "I think the problem is we have a CC tongue embedded in a residential zone," she said.

Council President Latham Williams said he thinks the project does need to be redesigned again before it could be reconsidered by the city. "The problem is that on the west and south sides of the project, it’s just too close to be that big."

After the majority of the council said they think the matter could be resolved by the P&Z, Councilman Lud Renick issued a motion to remand the application back to the six-member planning panel, with specific instructions that attention be paid to the west and south sides of the development.

The motion passed by a 4-0 vote, prompting a handful of disapproving comments from the audience.

 

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