The Hailey City Council was prepared Monday to hold the second reading of an ordinance approving a two-building, 32.5-square-foot, 18-unit residential project at the south end of River Street — along with two required density waivers — but the discussion was canceled after the developer failed to reach a Agreement with the city by the time of the scheduled meeting regarding the number of units to be restricted.
Wood River Valley resident Larry Feiner is currently building a two-story luxury car dealership behind Karl Malone Ford near Friedman Memorial Airport. To house the agency’s future employees — who would be recruited from within the community, the developer said — Feiner proposed the Maple Street Apartments at 51 West Maple St. He hired architect Owen Scanlon to design the project.
On May 1, a smaller, 30-foot-tall version of the Maple Street project received unanimous design review approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission, allowing Fenner to apply for a building permit from the city. However, in June, the advance team discovered that at least one of the buildings would have to be at least 32 feet tall because the grade of the ground changes from corner to corner — which conflicts with the city’s 30-foot building height limit on the South River. street. The team reapplied for a planned unit development agreement, a type of arrangement that gives developers more headroom and volume if they agree to provide some sort of community amenity, such as park space or deed-restricted housing units.
In August, renderings that Scanlon presented to the City Council depicted two three-story buildings on a 0.47-acre lot at the northeast corner of Maple and South River streets. The project will provide a total of 15 two-bedroom units ranging from 820-850 square feet and three studio units measuring about 480 square feet, with a small portion of one building measuring up to 32 feet, 6 inches, Scanlon told the council.
Feiner’s new PUD application required building on a lot more than 30 square feet and building on a half-acre, which is less than the city’s minimum requirement of one acre. In exchange for the height and lot size concessions, he pledged to restrict six units forever — reserving them for local employees who make less than 120% of the area median income, or between $67,000 and $80,000 annually — regardless of who owns the property. In the future.
On August 25, the city issued Fenner a building permit for the original 30-foot building plan. Scanlon told the Mountain Express on Tuesday that preliminary construction work — utility installation, excavation and concrete foundation work — is underway on the parcel, and framing and foundation work will begin next. If Finer and the city reach an agreement by the Oct. 23 council meeting, the Maple Street Apartments will be built at a height of 32 feet, 6 inches; If not, Feiner would “stay less than 30 feet away,” Scanlon said by phone.
Scanlon said he and Feiner met with city attorneys Chris Sims and Robin Davis last week to try to draft a “binding legal document,” but to no avail. As of Thursday, Feiner had not yet approved the city’s request to reserve “18 units for deed-restricted housing and grant (Feiner) access to the 12 units to his company as long as he owns the building,” Scanlon said.
“We would like to be able to reach an agreement with the city that everyone feels comfortable with. But I’m not sure (when) that will happen.” “My client wants to use all 18 units for (agency staff). The document prepared by the city says the city can continue to use the building forever, and he disagrees.
Developer Larry Feiner’s planned unit development application for the Maple Street Apartments was approved by the Haley Planning and Zoning Commission on July 17, but needs final approval from the City Council to move forward.
Photo courtesy of Owen Wright Scanlon
Architect addresses criticism over design and ‘conflict of interest’
The Maple Street development has generated a fair amount of controversy among River Street residents who are concerned about its height and size — and the precedent they said the waivers would set — as well as Scanlon’s role as Hailey P&Z commissioner.
Given his position at P&Z, Scanlon recused himself from voting on the Maple Street apartments this summer. Some critics of the project have described his presentations to the council as a “blatant conflict of interest.”
One of those critics — Hailey resident Alicia Cavadi — walked out of Hailey City Hall with two other residents on Monday after learning the debate had been postponed.
In August, Cavadi said Scanlon’s role had put undue pressure on other P&Z members who may have felt uncomfortable objecting to the project. She proceeded to criticize Scanlon’s body language, much to Sims’ dismay.
“Mr. Scanlon stands with his arms crossed in a noticeably intimidating manner,” she said. “The message is clear. Hire the right and connected architect and the developer can implement any project through P&Z.
Sims said he hesitated “to honor this personal attack on Mr. Scanlon, who has years of volunteer work with the city.”
“We have reviewed this for conflict of interest issues and there are none,” Sims responded on August 28.
At the same meeting, a group of residents expressed dissatisfaction with the size of the project, the concessions required, increased traffic and limited parking spaces, which they said would lead to lower property values. Some said they were concerned about their children biking to the city’s ice rink or skate park, and others requested a traffic study.
Hailey resident Tom Dixon asked the city to follow the one-acre minimum in order to protect water quality and reduce water use.
“Does anyone know how many kids live between West Cedar and West Elm? It’s about 15. And we’re about to increase car capacity by 70%,” he said.
He also said that he shares Kavadi’s opinion.
“I certainly want to draw attention to Mr. Scanlon’s conflict of interest,” he said.
Neighbor Carol Thompson said she believes the project should be redrawn to fit the lot size and advised against “protecting developers who don’t live here instead of paying taxes for homeowners.”
“Why create building codes if all you have to do is get a change to change it?” she asked.
Neighbor Robert Richardson doubted the project would “work” if it were in Ketchum.
“This is not a commercial subdivision,” he added. “This project will completely block the sun to the neighbors to the north. They will not have sunlight in the winter for a large portion of the year.
Despite the opposition, Scanlon, council members and Mayor Burke said the benefits of permanent deed restrictions offset the size of the buildings.
“That’s not a lot to ask for,” Scanlon said. “I have to qualify for this. All of these units are deed-restricted. Everyone who lives in these units will work in the Wood River Valley.”
“This goes back to our request that we have made all along for public-private partnerships,” Burke noted. “This meets our goal.”
Councilman Sam Lynette said this is the type of project the city has been looking for “for the last four years,” and noted how rare it is to see developers provide housing for their employees.
“We desperately need community housing. A third of these planned units will be forever tied up — about double the percentage of community housing (units) across the city (housing stock),” he said.
Councilman Juan Martinez said he felt for the neighbors, “especially when (they) have been dealing with this project forever,” and was a little concerned about “how broken it is,” but he thought the southern portion of River Street could accommodate more growth.
“My job is to choose between exemptions and public benefits. Two-and-a-half feet (of additional height) for six units is an easy trade-off, from the standpoint of moving around and trying to find housing for myself,” he said.
Councilwoman Kaz Thea said “maybe the massive design should be changed and rolled back” and asked for more assurances that the buildings would not “turn” into Ketch I and II buildings in Ketchum. There, she said she heard that tenants were being forced out because of “rising rents.”
Thea also said she was concerned about blocking out sunlight.
“Maybe we need to go back to the drawing board and change the shading and (shading systems),” she said.
“Sunlight will be blocked, it will happen. It’s unfortunate, but there’s nothing in the city code that says we have to provide sunlight on other (owner) properties,” Scanlon told the Express on Thursday. The land has been empty for a very long time. My question to the neighbors is, what do you think will be built there? I mean, if you look around, every piece of bare land in Hailey now is being built for family housing. “
Scanlon also noted that he has been criticized for his dual roles as P&Z commissioner and architect like other developers in the past.
“You know, I’ve been in this movie before. I understand why these people are upset, I get it. But we’re not asking for anything illegal like they claim. There’s no backroom deals, no secret handshakes.” “I think I’m putting My feet are as close to the fire as anyone else, maybe more.
“We would love to make the neighbors happy and give the city six dedicated units in perpetuity, but it’s just too high a request, and we’re not there yet.” 
