126-lot development in Independence clears county, goes to city

A zoning change for a proposed 126-lot expansion of the Freedom Park subdivision in Independence cleared the Kenton County Planning Commission this week.

The passage came with several conditions that arose following testimonials from nearby residents and questions among the commissioners about construction logistics.

Now the final decision on the zoning will go to the Independence City Council.

The development area spans just over 43 acres in Independence at the current end of Freedom Trail, which currently dead ends into a wooded area. Wilson Road sits to the west, and Bramlage Road sits just south of the land.

Shaw Road can be found to the north of the land. Aside from the adjoining subdivision, the area is mostly surrounded by open green space and farmland. There are also conservation easements along some of the land’s streams.

Fort Mitchell-based developer Noll Homes and its Freedom Park, LLC subsidiary asked for the area’s zoning to be changed from its current residential conventional subdivision zone to a residential compact subdivision zone, which allows for greater housing density at 7.2 housing units per buildable acre.

The developers stated at this week’s planning commission meeting that Fischer Homes had been identified as the preferred builder for the homes. They also stated they would perform a traffic impact study prior to beginning construction.

In spite of the greater density allowed under the zoning change, the county’s planning professionals only recommended the zoning change to the commission on the condition that the developers not exceed 3.41 housing units per buildable acre. Planning professionals believed this density would better conform to the adjacent area’s residential land use.

Some of the homes Noll Homes proposes to build were dubbed “courtyard homes” because, well, they have courtyards. An August email from Noll Homes Principal David Noll to county planning professionals describes the homes as “designed primarily for the 55+ market.” Residents would pay into an HOA, which would be responsible for yard maintenance.

Regarding all the homes, they would have two to four bedrooms, and the developer estimated average sale prices between $385,000 and $536,000, depending on the unit’s size. On the other hand, monthly expenses – including a 10% down monthly mortgage payment, HOA fees, property taxes, as well as mortgage and property insurance – were estimated between $3,125 and $4,300.

The county’s planning professionals pointed out that this price range and unit size coincided with ranges identified as shortages by the Northern Kentucky Area Development District’s 2023 Housing Study. The developer submitted a chart to the county, highlighting a chart from the study that indicated the same, along with pricing information for the houses by size.

Much of the land had been annexed into Independence from the unincorporated county in 2004, an action that came with several conditions, most notably that any heavy equipment necessary to develop the area would have to come in off of Wilson Road, rather than Freedom Trail.

Just what constituted heavy equipment was one of the points of contention among some commissioners and many of the residents who spoke out against the development at the meeting.

Bromley Commission Rep. Gailen Bridges, the only commissioner who did not cast a yes vote in the end (voting present, instead,) wondered, for instance, if concrete trucks counted as heavy equipment.

Noll explained the types of vehicles that would be coming in from Wilson versus those that would be required to come in from other roads, distinguishing between early development equipment and light construction equipment needed to actually build the homes.

“Earth moving equipment, bulldozer, pans, cranes – large stuff that would be done to get the development part done – sewer, pipe delivery, that kind of stuff” would come off of Wilson, Noll said. “When it comes to the light construction, which is the home construction, which is a light construction industry, those things will come through whatever is available at the time, whether it be on Wilson or whether it be Freedom Trail. I can’t be for sure when and where that’ll happen.”

Additionally, there was worry about the non-binding nature of the developers’ early development plan. Although the developers’ agreement to limit the lots’ density was binding as part of the commission’s vote, many residents wanted something more exacting.

“Basically, the applicant submitted this plan as just a reference,” explained one of the county’s planners, Megan Bessey. “It is non-binding. It’s not legally tied to this [zoning change] because it’s a single-family zone being rezoned to another single-family zone.”

Several residents didn’t like that. One resident, Michael Balmer, even called it his “biggest issue.”

Noll said he was “very confident” they would likely adhere to the overall layout of the plan they submitted to the county, but admitted that they would like a “little bit of flexibility” when it came to the details, as they had not yet done an in-depth analysis of the land.

“What we may need to do when we do the fine grading and detailing [is] move a cul de sac here a little bit or shift the center line of the road just to make the grades work,” said Rob Keller, an engineer with Bayer Becker, which produced the development concept plan.

Other residents expressed worries about traffic, concrete washout, safety (especially for the neighborhood kids in the area), and effects on the environment.

After about 2 hours of discussion, the commission finally cast a vote to allow the zoning change if the developer agreed to the following conditions: limit the lot density to 3.4 units per build-able acre, don’t interfere with the area’s conservation easements, don’t exceed the 126 lots, keep the heavy equipment constraints from 2004 and agree to bring any major changes to the development plan in the future to planning commission again for fresh approval.

The Independence City Council will vote on final approval for the zoning change in the coming months.

View and download the complete development plan submitted to the planning commission this week below.