- The Boone County Planning Commission’s Zone Change subcommittee unanimously recommended denial of Kroger’s request to rezone 20 acres.
- Plans call for a 99,000-square-foot Kroger Marketplace, wine and spirits store, fuel center and a 51,840-square-foot multi-tenant retail and restaurant building.
- Committee members raised concerns about traffic, truck noise and a proposed Paddock Drive connection near neighboring homes.
Kroger’s plan to develop a $40 million superstore complex less than a mile from the recently opened Richwood Publix has hit a roadblock.
On Wednesday, the Boone County Planning Commission’s Zone Change subcommittee unanimously recommended rejecting Kroger’s zone change request, which, if approved, would permit the development of a 99,000-square-foot grocery store and an accompanying retail complex.
The proposed store would be a ‘Marketplace,’ Kroger’s supercenter-style format, which features an expanded grocery selection and a department store.
Richwood Pointe, the proposed development, marks Kroger’s latest push into the Northern Kentucky market. Since 2023, Cincinnati-based Kroger has opened stores in Newport, Union and Edgewood, is constructing another in Cold Spring, and has authorized another in Alexandria.
Over the past three years, Publix, a Florida-based grocery chain, has begun aggressively expanding into the region, opening stores in Richwood and Cold Spring, with stores in Union and Independence on the way. With Publix opening so many stores in Kroger’s backyard, the grocery giant is countering with an opening spree of its own.
To move the project forward, Kroger has asked the planning commission to rezone a 20-acre site at the northeast corner of Frogtown Connector Road and Paddock Drive from employment planned development, intended for large, master-planned employment centers, to commercial three.
In addition to the grocery store, Kroger’s plans call for a 7,565-square-foot wine and spirits store, a fuel center with seven double-sided gas pumps, and a 51,840-square-foot multi-tenant retail and restaurant building with approximately 231 parking spaces.
During the meeting, the committee’s concerns centered on the plan’s Paddock Road access drive, as some members felt that a potential connection from the development to a residential neighborhood could disrupt traffic and generate noise from semi-trucks.
Corrin Gulick, chairwoman of the zone change subcommittee, questioned whether the proposed entrance on Paddock Drive was suitable.
“I have some significant traffic concerns about this development as well, and in addition to that, the noise from the trucks that I see haven’t changed — are still on the residential side of the development,” she said. “That’s also a big concern of mine.”
Anne McBride, a principal at the consulting firm McBride Dale Clairon, said Kroger had obtained a traffic study that found the Paddock Drive connector to be acceptable.
“Kroger feels that that access, which has been severely limited, as you know, is really critical to the project,” she said.
However, Gulick questioned whether the site was appropriate if the development required multiple access points, but Kroger could not provide them without negatively impacting the neighboring subdivision.
“I don’t see that it’s feasible to have more than one way in and out of this without creating an issue for the neighbors,” she said. “With that, if that’s a deal killer, I mean we can end this discussion and move on.”
Ultimately, the subcommittee voted to recommend denying Kroger’s zone change request. Next, the request will be heard before the full Boone County Planning Commission at its Sept. 2 business meeting.
