Following a spirited debate between Blaine County Commissioners Tom Bowman and Larry Schoen on Tuesday, the Croy Canyon Ranch Foundation was exempted from potential further appearances before the Planning and Zoning Commission to plan wastewater treatment.
The foundation had appealed a condition set by the Planning and Zoning Commission that public hearings would be required if the foundation chooses onsite waste management rather than connection to the Hailey sewer system for its proposed senior-care facility in Croy Creek Canyon.
At the meeting in Hailey Tuesday, Bowman, making a motion in favor of the appeal, and Schoen, arguing against it, remained in a deadlock until Commissioner Angenie McCleary sided with Bowman to remove the contested condition from the foundation's conditional-use permit.
The condition under appeal required the foundation to return to the P&Z for another public hearing process if an agreement is not reached with Hailey to connect the planned continuing-care facility to the city's sewer system. In the absence of such an agreement, the foundation would be required to create an alternative plan for wastewater disposal, which would need to be approved by a number of state agencies before the foundation could apply for a building permit.
The P&Z approved the foundation's conditional-use permit for a continuing care and retirement facility in April. The new facility is planned for a site one mile west of Hailey in Croy Canyon and has been slated to open by 2012, with the total project estimated to cost $31 million. The facility is planned to be built with money from the net proceeds of the sale of Blaine Manor, a Hailey care facility for seniors operated by the county, as well as entry fees and private donations.
Originally, the foundation's plan to hook into Hailey's sewer lines was set to be paid by the developers of Spring Canyon Ranch, a planned 115-residence development on the property neighboring the continuing-care facility. The city agreed to extend sewer service outside of city limits to the subdivision largely because of the developer's agreement to provide the line extension to the foundation's property.
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However, with the current difficulties in financing residential projects like Spring Canyon Ranch, and the foundation's eagerness to get its own project under way, alternatives to providing sewer service are being considered.
"We realized all along that we cannot depend on a third party," Croy Canyon Ranch Foundation Board Member Jed Gray said in an interview.
Gray said the foundation's preference is to connect to the city's sewer system, but that an alternative of onsite waste management is also on the drawing board.
If the latter scenario were to be implemented, a condition attached to the conditional-use permit would require the foundation to return to the P&Z for a public hearing to approve the plan.
Bowman said the plan would have to be reviewed and approved by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, a licensed engineer and the South Central Public Health District. He said the P&Z does not have the expertise to evaluate a complicated waste disposal system, making a public hearing on the matter unnecessary.
"The P&Z is doing their job, but is inconsistent on how they applied the code here," Bowman said during the meeting. "They probably overreached their authority. How will a public hearing contribute to [analysis of] that type of system?"
Bowman said the record of the P&Z's decision on the conditional-use permit did not demonstrate a specific reason why the sewer plan would have to come back for a hearing. In addition, he said the county approves development plans for fire protection and traffic with just administrative review, as opposed to a public hearing, so there is no reason not to do the same with the wastewater plan. Administrative review would be handled by the county Planning and Zoning Department.
However, Chairman Schoen expressed staunch opposition to Bowman's opinion.
"For the first time, I'm very disappointed by your argument because you are second guessing the P&Z," Schoen said. "The P&Z didn't have doubts about the other issues ... but this was not the case with wastewater. This is [the foundation's] purposes versus the institution of the P&Z."
McCleary played the role of tiebreaker, agreeing with Bowman that the condition was unnecessary because review by the state agencies and an engineer were enough to ensure that the public and surrounding sensitive wetlands would be protected.
Jon Duval: jduval@mtexpress.com
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