An overview of housing projects coming to a ‘North Valley’ neighborhood near you
By Eric Valentine
If your mayor proudly announces a large response to a housing needs survey, you might be a resort town with a housing crisis.
If your local airport (which hosts a lot of private jets) records 25% more takeoffs and landings during a travel-restricting pandemic and your LOT receipts and sales tax revenue hit record highs, you may be a resort town with a housing crisis.
If your local officials consider parking lots and campgrounds to be temporary housing plots, you may be a resort town with a housing crisis.
If your … you get the idea, whether you’re a Jeff Foxworthy fan or not. Blaine County is in a housing crisis and it has an impact on every Valley demographic.
The good news is that every jurisdiction in the Valley seems poised—some more than others—to add to the housing supply in any sustainable—some more than others—way they can. What follows is a summary—recent highlights, really—of what each governing body from Sun Valley to Hailey is doing to make sure the working class and high-net-worth folks of this mountain getaway don’t resort to moving or wintering somewhere else. In the next issue of Wood River Weekly we’ll take a look at proposed developments south of Hailey.
The Sun Valley Also Rises
Sun Valley is quickly moving forward on a new “hillside ordinance” that proposes changes which would allow the city to more easily approve “small-scale encroachments” into parts of lots that exceed 25% in grade. In other words, some areas in Sun Valley currently too difficult to develop could, in the future, pass muster more easily with planning and zoning guidelines.
This month the Sun Valley City Council also approved a reduction in plans to build the so-called “Sunshine Townhomes,” an approximately 4.6-acre site in Elkhorn Village. Developers originally were to create 49 dwelling units, but that has been reduced to 43. Nonetheless, 43 new units so close to the Sun Valley resort are a welcome addition.
Catching Up In Ketchum
Although “the hole” still occupies the gateway to Ketchum and although one of city leadership’s main areas of focus is the preservation of the 65-acre Warm Springs Ranch property, leaders are doing what they can to bring housing solutions to the housing crisis.
Last month, the city hired housing specialist Carissa Connelly to serve as the city’s housing strategist. Connelly is tasked with analyzing the Valley’s housing crisis and developing a plan for action.
In October, Ketchum city leaders unanimously approved a 75-year land lease for the so-called Bluebird Village workforce-housing development at 480 East Avenue—the former location of Ketchum City Hall. Bluebird Village is a 51-unit project comprising two four-story buildings on a 0.6-acre site. The city would use tax credit revenues to offset costs of the units. In turn, that could then keep rental costs in the roughly $600 to $1,200 range based on a unit’s size and the renter’s income.
All Hail From Hailey
The Valley’s most populous portion, Hailey, has a number of larger-scale developments clearing city hurdles and moving closer to being shovel-ready. Woodside and Maple Street subdivisions, River Street townhomes, and a Main Street senior and low-income family housing project called Blaine Manor are just a few examples.
Most recently, the Hailey Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved a 104-unit multifamily development in the Woodside neighborhood. Some neighbors voiced concerns but those figure to be drowned out by the chorus of screams over the past year for more housing. City Council will review the project in January.