ISSUE # 14: Now is the Time to SPEAK UP

The City has another Comp Plan survey for you--here's how I filled it out

Comprehensive Plan Survey. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ckcompplan

That’s the link to the survey. Let’s walk through it.

Part I: Community Values.

It shows an update of the 2014 Comp Plan. They miss the boat in terms of the fundamental community value of survival. An aging town is a dying town, and we are aging rapidly as young people are being squeezed out. The average age has risen by a decade in the past 20 years. The 2014 Comp Plan called for attracting families. Epic Fail. I have never once heard a Council Member address the family issue.

Part II: Who We Are Today

There are some great stats here. What surprised me the most was the Troika's failure to achieve any progress on the 2014 Comp Plan—see the quote at the left-hand side of the chart. This makes sense, as they aren’t accountability-minded people, are they?

If the trends continue, Ketchum will be hollowed out of the community of people who make it a community. Ketchum will become a bedroom rental town. We will have more traffic, less parking, more short-term beds in hotels, AirBNBs, and ADUs, an even older population, and an influx of transient low-paid tourism industry workers living in taxpayer-funded housing, with even more second homes. The LI zone will be gutted of businesses.

The last question here is the defining question for Ketchum—should we be attracting families? I am glad they finally asked this.

Part III: Where We Are Headed

This is where they lose the thread and revert to form. This section is how we meet the demand for growth. Like growth is something we want to be meeting the demand for. It presumes we are powerless to control it, and our choices are limited to the specific lots of land for which specific purposes.

I hope we aspire to do better than that.

The Housing Section

The questions presume that every person contributes equally to the community. I don’t believe that is true in a world of scarce resources. I believe a teacher with a family is more critical to Ketchum’s future than a kid working a seasonal tourist job who is here for six months.

I wish they had defined “workforce housing.” If they are using the definition in Ketchum’s Housing Action Plan, that is not what most people would think of as workforce housing (it paradoxically includes people who choose not to work—because that is the only way you can do a Bluebird-type development). You have to replace “workforce” with “low-income” to be consistent with how Ketchum has approached housing.

As for where high-density housing should be built, the areas around the hospital are ideal for working families. They are closer to Hailey for dual-job families, closer to the high school for working families, and on the transportation lines for easy commutes—plenty of room for parking.

Commercial Growth Section

They make a big statement about the demand for land for commercial, office, and industrial use but provide no links to any data or analysis behind their assertion. Once again, is meeting the demand the goal of the community? Or is it to shape that demand to strengthen the community? We have a pro-development Troika in charge.

If we want to diversify our economy beyond tourism and the construction/real estate industries that feed on it, we will need office space for knowledge worker jobs and commercial space for business start-ups like some of the ones that have birthed in Ketchum but then get squeezed out.

If we want to preserve our commercial core, we need ground-floor retail and restaurants/bars, not housing or offices. And we need parking to access them. This survey does not include anything on parking. Hmm.

Economy

This should have been the first section of this part of the survey because the rest flows from that. I am for diversification, as our current policy of all tourism means low-paying jobs, continued aging of our population, and the death of Ketchum as a community for its residents.

Community Character

I prioritize families who make their lives in the community. Others may lean toward the connection of our built places with the outdoors—trees, low building heights so we can see mountains and sky, regulation of lumens rather than fixtures so our skies remain dark. Or consistency of an economy rather than the tourism boom/bust cycle. Or knowing the people you see on the streets and in local businesses. Or a community that invests in its children and provides opportunities for their future. Or a robust non-profit sector. Actually, all of these are “and” not “or.”

Transportation

This one is oddly worded. I would prioritize incentivizing commuters to use Mountain Rides, which will require a re-conception of Mountain Rides’s purpose. But don’t we want all of the options presented?

Interestingly, there is nothing in here about managing traffic flows through Ketchum. Is it too hot a topic? Isn’t it crucial for our quality of life?

Sustainability and Community Health

I find this confusing. Do they mean our carbon footprint? Our impact on the lands around us? For question 22, all things flow from Land Use, but why is Transportation an “and” to it? When they do a lot of “ands” in surveys, you get a lot of non-utile results, as you can interpret the answers in multiple directions. With the City’s surveys, I never know if this is intentional or if there is just a lack of expertise in survey design.

Take Advantage of The Open Ended Comment Boxes

I come across as critical of the survey. Forget about my critique. We play the hand we are dealt.

You should complete the survey and get everyone you know to complete it.

Take advantage of this pathway to the City Planning Department to get your views across. Use the open-ended comment boxes to provide your own context and color. The more input into the process, the better the prospects for its outcome.