- The Boone County Planning Commission voted 11-1 to recommend approval of Arlinghaus Builders’ proposed 182-home development
- The proposal would replace a 1999-approved senior living development that was never built
- The recommendation includes traffic, landscaping and open-space conditions, but the Boone County Fiscal Court must grant final approval
The Boone County Planning Commission has backed a proposal from Arlinghaus Builders to develop a 182-home subdivision on the site of the unrealized Baptist Convalescent Center.
On Aug. 5, the planning commission voted 11 to 1 to recommend approval of Arlinghaus Builders’ proposal to develop a new subdivision on a nearly 46-acre site along Burlington Pike, between Shady Hollow Lane and Springfield Boulevard.
The property is owned by the Baptist Convalescent Center, a nonprofit senior care organization operated by Baptist Life Communities, which acquired the property in 2016, according to Boone County land records. The site has been approved since 1999 for a 58-unit assisted living facility, including a 40-bed nursing facility and 24 townhome units across six four-unit buildings.
Ultimately, the project never materialized, prompting Arlinghaus Builders to collaborate with the landowners on a new development.
The Boone County Planning Commission staff determined that the plan aligns with the county’s 2045 Future Land Use Map and that the project’s average density of four units per acre is consistent with the previously approved Baptist Convalescent Center plan.
“The (Zone Change) committee met and is recommending approval of this application on the basis that it is generally consistent with the 2045 Future Land Use Map, which identifies the area for high suburban density residential uses and is developmentally sensitive,” Boone County Zoning Administrator Michael Schwartz said.
However, the planning commission’s backing did come with several conditions, including requiring the main entrance road to meet subcollector standards; constructing right and left turn lanes on Burlington Pike that would be subject to approval by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet; providing at least two future street connections to adjacent property; negotiating landscape screening along parts of the north and east property lines; maintaining minimum 6,000-square-foot lots; and providing a 60-foot-wide green space along Burlington Pike.
Arlinghaus Builders Vice President Bob Schroder said his company agreed with the proposed conditions.
“We’ve agreed to the conditions, and hopefully everybody agrees,” Schroder said prior to the planning commission’s vote.
Schroder outlined key elements of the development at a public hearing on July 1. Home prices within the development would start at around $300,000, with ranch-style homes averaging about 1,300 square feet and two-story homes about 1,700 square feet. He also noted that the development would likely take years to complete due to the sheer number of single-family homes.
Before the vote, Commissioner Jacqueline Steele expressed concern that the development could encroach into the more rural and agrarian western Boone County.
“I saw a development like this in Michigan, and you could hardly tell where one building stopped and the other building started,” Steele said. “With there being another 87-acre area at the end of these streets, I am not for buildings that close. You’re kind of creeping out into Western Boone County, and I think it’s getting way too close together myself.”
Schroder attempted to reassure Steele by explaining that the project will not raise the previously approved residential density for the site. Instead, it will change the housing type from multifamily and senior living to detached single-family homes.
Steele was the lone no vote.
Planning Commission Chairman Charlie Rolfsen said the Boone County Fiscal Court would have final authority over the approval of the project, due to the fact that the development site is located within unincorporated Boone County. A vote will be taken by the fiscal court at a future meeting.
