Comprehensive Plan and Code Update
Exciting News: Draft Updated Comprehensive Plan is here! Leave your comments on the Draft Comprehensive Plan below. The public comment period is open from Monday, December 2, 2024 – Friday, January 17, 2025. Join us at City Hall on December 10th for a special joint meeting where the Ketchum City Council and Planning & Zoning Commission will discuss the draft Plan and next steps for the Code Update.
The Future Land Use Plan, containing the Future Land Use Map and Categories, establishes the policy guidance that is used by the City to inform changes to land use regulations and evaluate the compatibility of proposed developments or zone change requests. Leave your comments on the Draft Future Land Use Map below. Click here for descriptions of the Draft Future Land Use Categories.
The city initiated a targeted update to its 2014 Comprehensive Plan and the land use regulations that implement the plan’s goals and policies—Ketchum Municipal Code. Updates are being led by Planning and Building Department staff with support from Clarion Associates, a consulting firm with extensive experience in comprehensive planning and municipal development code projects.
Our Vision
“We aspire to be an authentic mountain community with world-class character, yet small-town feel. We see our community as one with a high quality of life for a local, year-round population and a visiting population. We will be successful by creating, marketing, and delivering distinctive choices for jobs, learning, health, outdoor adventure, and arts and culture. We value a strong sense of community. Furthermore, we wish to be a place with a strong economy, a vibrant downtown, diverse options for housing, and a varied demographic of people who live, work, and visit here. We will be responsible stewards of our environment, work for a dynamic economy, and maintain our special way of life for generations to come.”
Why Update?
Ketchum has changed a lot in the past 10 years:
- we’ve welcomed new community members;
- economic conditions have changed;
- tourism has grown; and
- community housing challenges have increased.
These changes have spurred discussions regarding the future of Ketchum. The city has initiated an update to Ketchum’s Comprehensive Plan and land use regulations. The Comprehensive Plan identifies goals and policies to achieve the community’s visions for the future of Ketchum. These policies are then used to adapt the city’s code, which establishes standards for land use and development.
Project Objectives
- Achieve alignment between the updated Comprehensive Plan, other adopted plans, and the code to support the community’s vision, goals, and policies
- Integrate sustainable policies and practices to support sustainable growth and environmental stewardship
- Develop regulations that improve the citizen experience by making the code user-friendly—written in clear, simple terms that are streamlined and fair— and include high-quality visual references (images, graphics, tables, etc.).
- Develop design review guidelines and processes that foster creativity and quality design.
The full project is anticipated to take approximately 2.5 years to complete and will be executed in three phases.
Phase 1 of the project is complete and included an audit of the 2014 plan, stakeholder engagement, input from the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council, and the development of a detailed scope of work for phase 2.
Phase 2 is organized into two parts: (1) Targeted Comprehensive Plan Update and (2) Code Update Initial Tasks. Click the links below to view Phase 2 documents.
Phase 3 is anticipated to begin in early 2025 and will amend the city’s land use regulations to implement the goals and policies of the updated Comprehensive Plan to ensure that future development aligns with the community’s vision for the future. The graphic below summarizes all three phases of work.
Project
Scoping
- Initial stakeholder meetings
- Plan audit
- Public engagement strategy
Part 1: TARGETED COMP PLAN UPDATE
- Update plan foundations
- Future land use plan/key policy choices
- Updated Comprehensive Plan draft/adoption
Part 2: CODE UPDATE (INITIAL TASKS)
- Reorganization and consolidation
- Updates to procedures
- Code assessment
CODE UPDATE (REMAINING TASKS)
- Zone districts, uses, and development standards
- Consolidated draft/adoption
Opportunities for community and stakeholder input are provided throughout the Comprehensive Plan update and initial tasks for the code update in Phase 2. These engagement opportunities are scheduled to align with major project milestones. The project will be an iterative process with multiple opportunities for the public to provide feedback on interim work product.
Upcoming Events
Comprehensive Plan
- Exciting News: Draft Updated Comprehensive Plan is here! Scroll up to the top of this page to review and add your comments. The public comment period is open from Monday, December 2, 2024 – Friday, January 17, 2025.
- Join us on December 10th for a special joint meeting where the Ketchum City Council and Planning & Zoning Commission will discuss the draft Plan and next steps for the Code Update.
Code Updates
- Join us on December 10th for a special joint meeting where the Ketchum City Council and Planning & Zoning Commission will discuss the draft Plan and next steps for the Code Update.
Past Events & Outreach
Advisory Groups
In addition to the various opportunities for community and stakeholder engagement, the project team is supported by three advisory groups—the Citizens Advisory Committee, Code Advisory Group, and Technical Advisory Group.
Citizens Advisory Committee
The Citizens Advisory Committee provides feedback on the vision, goals, and policies for the Comprehensive Plan Update and is comprised of various representatives from different neighborhoods and local businesses within Ketchum and its area of city impact.
Code Advisory Group
The Code Advisory Group provides input on interim documents associated with the Code Update and includes representatives from the Planning and Zoning Commission, City of Ketchum departments, and outside stakeholders that have a technical background and knowledge of the city’s land use regulations.
Technical Advisory Group
The Technical Advisory Group, which was established by the city in 2023, provides strategic input and guidance on community design and development issues related to both the Comprehensive Plan and Code Update processes.
Comprehensive Plan
Code Update
Related Plans and Studies
- 2024 Parking Management Plan
- 2024 Blaine County Community Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan
- 2020 Master Transportation Plan
- 2023 Housing Needs Assessment Survey Results
- 2022-2023 Housing Action Plan
- Blaine County 5B Can Climate Action Plan
- Blaine County Recreation District: Sports & Recreation Infrastructure Feasibility Assessment