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Project Ketchum

Project Ketchum

City of Ketchum

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VISION | Increase access to, create and preserve enough homes for residents at varying income levels and life stages to keep Ketchum a thriving local community.

Housing Matters

Ketchum is now implementing its first Housing Action Plan as adopted on May 9, 2022.

This community-designed and -driven plan takes a holistic approach to address the housing crisis in Ketchum and Blaine County.

Housing Matters ‘Impact Placemat’:

Download and Read the PDF

YEAR-1 ACTIONS

Research – including a scan of best practices and comparable communities and community input – resulted in five comprehensive goals and 280 ideas that were filtered for immediate feasibility and impact. The goals and a sample of year-1 actions are as follows:

Goal 1 | Produce + preserve housing

  • Develop new and preservation pipelines
  • Create ownership and preservation program
Research & Recommendation
  • Incentivize conversion of vacant/seasonal/short-term rentals to long-term rentals
Lease to Locals
Policies
  • Begin master planning on publicly owned lands
Publicly Owned Sites
Holst Architecture Proposal
  • Increase development and occupation of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)
ADU FAQs
  • Continue to support Bluebird Village development.
Bluebird Village

Goal 2 | Update policy to promote housing

  • Update code and process
  • Propose tenant displacement and local discrimination ordinances
  • Adopt interim ordinance to increase housing supply and require no net loss of units.
Interim Ordinance
Short Term Rentals

Goal 3 | Expand + improve services to create housing stability

  • Provide displacement support
  • Train case workers on fair housing and landlord-tenant law, and bring in a tenant advocate
  • Create a housing navigation system
  • Coordinate supportive services
    • Mediation support – housing@neuromediationgroup.com; phone: (208) 314-1330
The Housing Mediation Project

Goal 4 | Expand + leverage resources

  • Create a database of philanthropic, state, and federal housing resources, write grants
  • Coordinate philanthropic efforts and offer employer-sponsored options

Goal 5 | Inform, engage + collaborate

  • Update Housing Action Plan annually
  • Launch county-wide coordination process with other jurisdictions and implementation partners
  • Initiate bi-monthly check-ins with comparable ski area housing staff

HOUSING ACTION PLAN | 2022-2023

The City of Ketchum developed the Housing Action Plan based on relevant housing needs data, community input, and guidance from a Task Force comprised of a cross-section of community members. The Housing Action Plan is also built on the understanding that no single organization or jurisdiction can solve the housing challenge. The Action Plan is also built on the belief that solving community housing issues requires a multifaceted approach. No single solution offers the silver bullet to solve all the housing issues and there is simply no way to build, re-zone or buy our way out of the problem.

Foundational to the Housing Action Plan is the tenet that through innovation, coordination, and tenacity, we can together strengthen our community by securing homes for our families and workforce.

2022.2023 HOUSING ACTION PLAN
BORRADOR DEL PLAN DE ACCION

CONTEXT

Development of the Housing Action Plan included three in-depth periods of public engagement, including three Task Force meetings. A needs assessment was also conducted, primarily of census data and relevant local analyses.

Findings Summary

There is a massive shortage of affordable homes in Ketchum.

The housing needs assessment estimated that the City of Ketchum needs between 660-980 homes in the next 10 years to meet demand. The breakout of how demand was determined is described in the table below. It is expected that this need could be met through a combination of new construction, preserved rentals, and converting existing homes into long-term rentals.

Additionally, for all of Blaine County, (including Ketchum) approximately 4,700 to 6,400 new, preserved, or converted housing units will be needed over the next 10 years. This projection emphasizes why county-wide collaboration and housing efforts are critical to addressing the housing crisis.

Ketchum is losing its workforce and some year-round residents because most local people cannot afford to live in Ketchum.

Ketchum’s workforce primarily consists of low- and middle-income households (under $45,355 per year or $23 per hour) that our local economy depends on.  Sixty percent of local renters live in unaffordable housing, meaning they pay more than 30% of their gross/pre-tax income on housing costs.  Compounding the problem, Ketchum lost 335 long-term rentals between 2010 and 2019.  This is without accounting for pandemic acceleration when Ketchum’s population grew by 25% compared to the historical 1% annual growth.  Low-income renters are the most impacted by the high cost of housing. Many low-income households and individuals are one emergency away from experiencing homelessness. A survey of over 1,100 participants who live or work in Blaine County found that 1% of our population is already experiencing homelessness.

Only upper-income households can really afford the ‘market.’

Given current, high housing for-sale and rental prices in Ketchum, market-rate housing is only affordable for upper-income households. Median (market) Ketchum rent is only affordable to households earning more than $107,000 annually ($100,000 for the County).  

Our community agrees that there is a housing crisis and wants action.

Consistent themes throughout interviews, surveys, and open houses are the breadth of housing crisis impacts Valleywide. Below are key themes of what we heard.

The community’s identity. Sentiment from a variety of interviewees is the sense that Ketchum is losing its identity as the housing market becomes challenging and people move away.  Many respondents felt that the pursuit of accessible community housing represents more than a roof over community members’ heads – it’s a quest to maintain the “soul” of the community. 

Access to a stable workforce – which is damaging business vitality. Business viability and access to a stable workforce were common ideas shared when interviewees were asked to identify a “key indicator” for the housing environment.

RESULTS

Are you in need of housing assistance?

Reach out to these programs to get help.

Rental & Ownership Opportunities
Lease to Locals
Blaine County Housing Authority
ARCH Community Housing Trust
Syringa Property Management
Wood River Valley Rentals (Facebook)
Ketchum Hailey Bellevue Buy Sell Trade (Facebook)
Idaho Mountain Express (Classifieds)
Rental & Ownership Assistance
South Central Community Action Partnership
Blaine County Charitable Fund
Idaho Housing and Finance Association
Legal Assistance
Neuro Mediation Group
Idaho Legal Aid Services
Intermountain Fair Housing Council

Blaine County Housing Survey 2023

Thank you for taking the time to fill out this year’s Blaine County housing survey. Your input is extremely important since it will inform housing actions countywide! 

Take the survey
Take the screen-reader friendly survey
Tomar la encuesta

Donate to the Housing Trust

Your tax deductible donations will go directly to the Housing Trust and used for future developments and programs.

Donate via Credit Card
Donate via E-Check

Stay in the Loop

The monthly ‘Housing Matters’ newsletter provides updates organized via the five defined goals of the Housing Action Plan.

  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
Sign up for the Newsletter

Upcoming Events

  • May 9, 2023 – Learning from Peer Communities: Housing Lessons and Opportunities with Summit County, Colorado’s Housing Director | 6pm at The Community Library. In collaboration with the Spur Community Foundation.
  • April 27, 2023 – Learning from Peer Communities: Housing Lessons and Opportunities with Park City, Utah’s Housing Development Manager | 6pm at The Community Library. In collaboration with the Spur Community Foundation.
  • January 24, 2023 – Learning from Peer Communities: Housing Lessons and Opportunities with Jackson, Wyoming’s Housing Director | 6pm at The Community Library. Watch the recording here.
  • Recurring events:
    • The Hunger Coalition Food Distribution Mondays & Thursdays at Hemingway
    • St. Thomas Church’s Ketchum Community Dinners Curbside – Wednesdays

PRESS

  • Blaine County mediation program seeks to prevent evictions before they reach court – Boise State Public Radio
  • Blaine County and City of Ketchum tap NeuroMediation Group to launch landlord-tenant mediation program – Press release
  • Three Blaine County cities are partnering on a new pilot program to address housing crisis – KMVT
  • City of Ketchum creating housing for locals with ‘Lease to Locals’ – KTVB
  • Ketchum’s Housing Matters – Letter to the Mt. Express
  • The Hunger Coalition Joins Forces with Ketchum Housing Action Plan
  • Housing Matters Task Force Quotes

Related Resources

  • Property Tax Reduction Program 2022
  • Blaine County Comprehensive Plan
  • Short-Term Rentals in Ketchum
  • Homeowner’s Exemption Application
  • Regional Workforce Housing Report
  • Mountain Migration Report
  • 2017 Needs Assessment
  • Idaho’s Landlord and Tenant Manual
  • National League of Cities – Local Tools to Address Housing Affordability

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PO Box 2315 | 191 5th St. West | Ketchum, ID 83340 | 208.726.3841