DOWNSIZING DREAM HOMES
Another Western Resort Town Mulls Limits on House Size
By Headwaters News, 9-22-06
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Aspen, Telluride and Pitkin County in Colorado all have them. So does Jackson, Wyo. And now Sun Valley planners want them, too.
“They” are limits on the size of homes built in the Idaho resort town.
An Associated Press article published today in the Twin Falls Times-News says Sun Valley’s planning board gave initial approval to an ordinance that would cap home sizes at 12,000-square feet — and impose even smaller limits on homes on hillsides.
Sun Valley’s Mayor Jon Thorson said the new limits are needed to preserve the scenic integrity of the mountain community.
But a developer, whose company is building new homes around a golf course, called the new rules a “travesty.”
Wally Huffman, general manager of the Sun Valley Co., said most of his potential clients said they want to build homes between 7,500 and 9,000 square feet.
The new size restrictions, which must still be considered and approved by the Sun Valley City Council, factor in such things as slope, and consider total floor area rather than a home’s footprint.
A recent survey by the Sun Valley-Ketchum Chamber and Visitors Bureau found that owners of nearly half the homes in the area don’t live there year-round.
And Sun Valley City Administrator Virginia Egger said that, during comprehensive planning meetings, residents repeatedly said 10,000-square-foot homes were just too big.
A final decision on the size restrictions won’t be made until later this month or next month.
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Comments
People who live part time in giant homes pay giant property taxes that full time residents would have to pay otherwise, and usually do not ask for much in return; for example, they do not use the public education system. "Affordable" housing doesn't cover the cost of education, public works and public safety so you have to have the ostentatious and the affordable or you won't have a balanced town.