Written by John Robbins
Once dominated by farming, Kenton County in 2026 is split between its very developed, crowded northern half and its sparsely populated southern half which still has plenty farmland, greenspace and nature. Current Fiscal Court leaders, all living in the county’s developed northern half, seem hell-bent on forcing their plan for industrial development on the county’s rural southern half. But a majority of residents in the rural southern half don’t like or want it and now they are making a big effort to inform voters about it as the 2026 elections get closer. How did we get here?
Let’s start by reading a portion of Kenton County’s 2024 Comprehensive Plan:
“Kenton County consists of some soils which are considered Prime Farmland soils or Farmland of Statewide Importance as shown in Figure 4. Prime Farmland is land which consists of soil that has the best combination of physical and chemical characteristics for the production of crops. It has the soil quality, growing season, and moisture supply needed to produce sustained high yields of crops when treated and managed, including water management, according to current farming methods. Areas of Kenton County listed as Farmland of Statewide Importance indicates land other than Prime Farmland which has a good combination of physical and chemical characteristics for the production of crops.”
Most of the map’s depicted areas of prime farmland (shaded in green) and farmland of statewide importance (shaded in yellow) in the county’s northern half are already built on or paved over. Most of the remaining best soil and farmland are in the southern half of the county, mostly in the county’s SW corner. I added the purple oval outline in the lower left corner to show where county leaders want to implement their plan, called the “Site Readiness Initiative” or SRI, to prepare the land for industries and factories to move in. If the SRI gets implemented, over 5000 acres of farmland of statewide importance will be converted to industry and factories!
The southern half of Kenton County not only has farmers, but many others like me who moved there to be closer to farms, greenspace and nature. Regardless why we live there, we were shocked when county leaders announced their SRI plan early in 2025 at public hearings in Piner and Independence. We heard how the SRI would prepare 2 areas for industrialization by creating wider heavier-duty roads and installing new water, natural gas, sewage and electric power infrastructures. Focus Area 1 would go from Maher Rd on the north to KY-16 on the south between Banklick Rd and Boone County. Focus Area 2 would go from Walton to Grant County between the US-25 corridor and Boone County. Area residents were not consulted in advance about the SRI plan. And despite both Focus Areas being where the 2024 Comprehensive Plan located much of the county’s best remaining farmland of statewide importance, that wasn’t even mentioned. So at a Fiscal Court session in summer 2025 I asked why the county’s best remaining farmland of statewide importance should be converted to industry. No county leaders replied.
Southern Kenton County residents began to organize. Some began regularly attending and speaking at Fiscal Court sessions about their opposition to the SRI. Some tried to schedule a negotiation with county leaders last winter to get the SRI cancelled. That got blocked by county leaders, so we began working to make opposing the SRI a 2026 campaign issue. We interviewed candidates and hosted a public forum to hear their positions and perspectives on the SRI. Then we produced recommendations based on which candidates expressed the clearest anti-SRI positions. It became clear that most voters in the northern half of the county were unaware of the SRI, so we also began trying to inform northern county voters about it and to persuade them to vote for our recommended anti-SRI candidates. Our recommended candidates included members of both political parties. We didn’t care about their political parties, only their anti-SRI positions.
Now the May 19 primary is only days away. Kenton County’s current leaders and some 2026 candidates for the Fiscal Court still don’t talk publicly about the SRI, as if it’s not an important issue for the county or at least the southern half of the county. And there continues to be no acknowledgement by current leaders and some 2026 commissioner candidates that the SRI plan to convert over 5000 acres of rural and agriculture land in southern Kenton County to industrial uses is inconsistent with the county’s 2024 Comprehensive Plan which identified the county’s best remaining “farmland of statewide importance” exactly where the SRI’s 2 Focus Areas are.
So please vote for the Kenton County Fiscal Court candidates who publicly oppose the SRI. If you don’t know a candidate’s position on it, ask about it. Each Fiscal Court commissioner district has 1 or 2 candidates who publicly oppose the SRI. Only district 1 isn’t on the primary ballot because neither party’s candidate has an opponent. Remember voters can vote for candidates in all 3 districts. All the commissioners vote on issues which affect the county, including the SRI.
Kenton County is a beautiful place, including the remaining farmland, greenspaces and nature that are still abundant in its southern half. These are county assets, not just undeveloped areas waiting to be developed, built on or paved over. Let’s not allow the conversion of Kenton County’s best remaining farmland, nature and greenspaces to industrial use! Help us block the SRI!