V2N14: Sawtooth Serenade is Exhibit A For Why We Need To Fix Dark Skies, FAR and In Lieu Fees
This keeps happening--because the City ENCOURAGES it
Imagine it is 2028 and you are sipping your latte at Maude’s. This is the building you will be looking at.
It is two 11,000sf+ second homes, with a private pickle ball court. Right smack dab in the middle of Ketchum’s commercial zone. Zero commercial purpose. Look at all of those windows.
This building is on the P&Z agenda for tomorrow.
What do I think is wrong with this building?
No commercial purpose in the commercial zone.
Our current Comp Plan expressly states that the commercial zone should be preserved as a commercial zone. Sadly, that cat is out of the bag. In 2018, the Council passed a footnote in a zoning code table to permit community housing with essentially no commercial purpose. We already have one massive apartment building (Bluebird) and are about to get another one on the Washington lot.
Another lighthouse in Ketchum
Again, look at all those windows. Think about what this will look like at night. Don’t we have enough lighthouses in Ketchum? Ketchum at night is so bright that Sun Valley Co uses night shots of Ketchum in their advertising materials.
Another massive building in the core
This is a three-story, 100% residential building with only two second residences, their pickleball court, and underground parking. It has become common for private buildings of this scale, despite exceeding the 1.0 FAR limit, to provide no workforce housing. They are buying their way out of that requirement.
How is This Possible?
Technically, this use is no longer possible under current ordinances, but the application was slipped in before those ordinances took effect. One of the truisms of real estate is that, without appropriate zoning, residential development will crowd out commercial activities in a tourism destination. This has been happening in Ketchum for decades.
A building of this scale is permissible in the Ketchum core under the current ordinances, as long as it has commercial use on the first floor. Indeed, current ordinances encourage buildings like this as vehicles to generate in lieu fees for future Bluebirds.
How Can we Prevent These Monstrosities?
Get rid of the “in-lieu-of” fee
I like an affordable units requirement for multi-unit buildings, but only if they are deed-restricted for essential workers and/or families with children where at least one parent works full-time in Ketchum. We sorely need both of these categories.
I hate the in-lieu option to get a FAR of 2.25 instead of 1.0. The fee is set arbitrarily, encouraging developers to pay the fee rather than provide the housing. Then the City uses these fees to subsidize Bluebirds. Without the fee option, developers would have to include deed-restricted units in their building to get a FAR >1. We would get units faster and more distributed throughout the community. The City would be out of the business of being a partner in developing low-income housing projects. There would be significant staff cost savings.
Fix FAR Exceedance
We know there is community pushback on the 2.25 FAR. The meeting for the 2.25 FAR building to be built on the Serva location was packed. I don’t know the correct scale, but I know how to figure that out. ASK THE COMMUNITY. Use a citizen’s assembly process, as Liz Corker has written about in The Ketchum Sun.
Regulate Lumens for Dark Skies
The Council pats itself on the back every year on Dark Sky day for its Dark Sky Ordinance. I think it is greenwashing. Our ordinance only regulates external light fixtures and makes them point downwards. If you want a lighthouse, use a lot of glass and light up the building from the inside. Zenergy is a great example, with the gym lights on full blast all night. So is Bluebird with its lighthouse external stairways.
What could we do? Regulate light emission. It’s not that complicated. I would love to see the Wood River Land Trust get active on this issue.
All of these have been suggested to the Council. Zero take up.
How Can You Weigh In?
P&Z will meet again on February 25th to discuss this project. It will be a public meeting, and public comment will be permitted. You can also send a comment to participate@ketchumidaho.org. All the current public comments that I have seen are in favor of this project. I wonder how that happened.
These people have deep pockets. They already fired a shot across the City’s bow with a letter from their lawyer. I don’t see how P&Z can do more than slow it down and force a few tweaks. Even if they vote to deny it, it will be appealed to the Council, and you know how that goes. The Council needs the in-lieu of fee from this building for its Bluebird program at the Y and Lift Tower Lodge.
I submitted comment to the P&Z. I hope they get 1000 such emails.
Huge box buildings in the community core without including housing and parking on the property are the result of poor code amendments and greed.
The FAR building code was originally written in the mid to late 90's to find a balance between community housing needs and keeping the character of our small town. The allowed maximum FAR (floor area ratio) was 1.75 and every building had to provide housing on site. Deed restricted units were built without the need for public land, tax funds, long application negotiations and the buildings had architectural creativity.
Now the FAR is 2.25, creating huge box buildings. In lieu funds are collected in place of providing housing units. Tax funds, public land and federal tax credits are being leveraged to build even bigger box buildings (Bluebird) for housing with federal regulations that don't meet our needs.
There is absolutely nothing left of the intent and integrity of the original code.
Elected officials have to quit throwing spaghetti against the wall and hoping something sticks. Ketchum is a fragile gem that needs thoughtful stewardship.