By Hayden Seder
On Jan. 28, the Wood River Community YMCA sent out a digital petition asking YMCA members and community members to rally against plans by the City of Ketchum to develop low-income housing adjacent to the YMCA, citing parking concerns as the reason for the city not to pursue the project.
In 2005, the YMCA and the city signed a 99-year lease agreement that allows the YMCA to develop a portion of the city-owned Park & Ride lot. Recently, the city has honed in on an unpaved gravel parcel on the north end of the Park & Ride lot for the housing project as it is one of only three plots of city-owned land that allows for the development of low-income housing. Maps included in the lease agreement label the parcel as developable.
The YMCA currently has two paved parking lots, one to the south of the YMCA building (which has 43 parking spaces) and one to the north (which has 139 spaces), for a total of 182 spaces. That total does not include any spaces on the parcel the city wants to develop.
Representatives from both the city and the YMCA have had several meetings to discuss options for the use of the unpaved portion of the north lot. So far, all they agree on is that both parties are reading the lease correctly.
The lease does not specifically guarantee a number of parking spaces to the YMCA. However, it does infer that 150 spaces is an appropriate amount (determined by the city and subject to change). The lease also states that should the city opt to develop on the Park & Ride lot in the future, both parties agree to cooperate in good faith to maintain an adequate amount of parking for the YMCA.
However, both parties are currently interpreting the word “adequate” in different ways.
“We have no plans to touch either of the paved parking lots at this point,” Ketchum Mayor Neil Bradshaw said in an interview. “The Y will still have more than the 150 parking spots they think they need, and we don’t plan to change that.”
According to the YMCA and its petition, 70 percent of available parking spaces would be eliminated by the development, a number disputed by the city.
“When the Y puts out a petition saying 70 percent of parking will be lost, I’m not sure where they get that number from,” Bradshaw said. “In fact, under our current plan, zero percent will be lost. I think petitions are useful if they accurately reflect the facts. But petitions have no merit if they’re a misrepresentation.”
The lease allows for the YMCA to develop 25 percent of the Park & Ride lot. A photo of the north side of the YMCA (pictured) shows a green line where the YMCA’s property line ends. Anything beyond that line is open for the city’s development without interference.
“I really want the YMCA and other neighbors to try and always be looking at every problem we face and use our energy to find solutions for our housing crisis rather than using energy to find creative ways to say ‘no’,” said Bradshaw. “What the Y is really saying is, ‘Don’t do this building here because when we expand, we’ll need it for our parking.’”
In an interview, YMCA CEO Jason Shearer acknowledged the city’s position and said the YMCA is not against the proposed project but, rather, for “the agreement that we had with the city to begin with which allowed the YMCA a significant portion of the Park & Ride on which to deliver our mission to the community and the city’s agreement to meet the YMCA’s parking need in good faith on the Park & Ride lot.”
“We’re happy to have any number of important community projects as neighbors so long as we have adequate parking and the city meets its promise to provide that parking,” Shearer said.
The lease includes a master plan that shows different phases of development for the YMCA and includes the future development of a multi-level parking lot in the Park & Ride lot, to be paid for by the city.
That development has not yet come to fruition, but the YMCA would like to continue with phase II of its own development, which might include the building of an ice rink, outdoor recreation facility or other projects.
Should these developments occur and take up parts of the current paved parking lots, the YMCA’s parking capacity would indeed be greatly reduced, creating problems for the more than 550 people who visit the facility on an average day.
“There are ways for the city to develop affordable housing on the Park & Ride but that requires master planning,” Shearer said. “The city wanted to entice the Y to build here, to invest $23 million in a first phase of construction with the promise of a second phase. Their agreement was to provide the parking. And we need them to provide that adequate parking.”
The YMCA’s board president, John Dondero, added, “The master plan shows that the city originally planned a two-tiered parking structure in the north part of the lot that they would build.”
Both Shearer and Dondero said the YMCA would have no problem with the city creating that type of parking structure, but Dondero explains that “it has been suggested that the Y raise funds for that, but we’ve explained that that is just something that the Y cannot nor should not do.”
Both the YMCA and the city do state that they have the same overall goal: to improve the town of Ketchum and the surrounding Sun Valley area. The YMCA has 6,479 members, employs close to 170 people, contributes more than $900,000 in its annual program subsidy and financial assistance and offers many community programs.
However, affordable housing is currently lacking, something that Bradshaw is extremely driven to resolve.
“Nobody wins when we spend energy staking our point of view; everyone wins when we work on solutions together,” Bradshaw said. “I don’t want anything to the detriment of the YMCA. It’s an important asset in our town and I want to see its continued success. There’s room for housing, an activity center and a parking garage. If we agree on a vision, I think the funding will come.”
