Mahogany Ridge
The proposed Mahogany Ridge PUD application officially expired on January 10th, 2010...
What Happened? The proposed Mahogany Ridge PUD application officially expired on January 10th, 2010. No extension request has been filed with the county planning office. Any future development proposal dealing with all or part of the land that was included in the Mahogany Ridge proposal will be subject to the land use ordinances in place at the time that any new application is filed.
What was Mahogany Ridge? Mahogany Ridge was a proposed 1,381 unit Planned Unit Development (PUD) on 3,507 acres stretching approximately 4.4 miles long and 2.0 miles wide. It would have been located on the west side of the valley on either side of Bates/Cedron Road from Buxton Road south.
Why did it expire? The developer asked to be removed from the October 2008 hearing schedule for unspecified reasons. At that hearing, the P&Z commission decided that in order to get back on the hearing schedule, the developer needs to submit a complete set of authorizations from owners whose property he is proposing as part of the project. The developer has never returned to the county with authorizations from all of the landowners or any other submissions regarding the project. Every development application is subject to a finite time window for moving through the approvals process and Mahogany Ridge's time limit has now been reached.
Just how big was Mahogany Ridge? Mahogany Ridge PUD was the largest development proposal (in terms of number of units) to ever come up for review before the county. It is the second of three very large PUDs, together totaling over 10,000 acres, seeking development approval by the county over the next several months. The other two are Canyon Creek Ranch (at final hearing before the Board of County Commissioners in February) and J Lazy H Ranch. Individually and cumulatively, these developments will have a very significant impact on the face of Teton Valley and the stewardship of thousands and thousands of acres. One of the things that sets Mahogany Ridge apart from the other two, however, is its very high density: approximately 40 units/100 acres as opposed to around 14 units/100 acres for the other two.
Why should I care how big it was? Mahogany Ridge is located in a very rural part of the county with significant natural resources – wetlands, big game seasonal ranges, sandhill crane habitat, etc. With such high densities, in such a rural part of the county, there are many ramifications for our community in terms of habitat, rural character, traffic and road maintenance, impacts to schools and emergency services, the need for affordable housing, etc.
Click here to see the Preliminary Plat Map for Mahogany Ridge
Click here to see the estimated impacts of Mahogany Ridge on the local community
Click here to read Idaho Fish & Game's letter on the Mahogany Ridge proposal
Click here to read VARD's August 5th comment letter on Mahogany Ridge
Click here for a map showing existing and proposed development on the west side
Click here for a more detailed map of Sandhill Crane sightings