A subsidiary of Fischer Homes is looking to add 687 housing units to the Ballyshannon development in Boone County.
A request for a zoning change that would allow for the construction of the units came before the Boone County Planning Commission last Wednesday. The planning commission will issue a recommendation on the zoning change request that would allow for the subdivision to be built at their meeting on Nov. 4.
This new addition would contain 460 condos, 103 paired patio homes and 124 townhomes. Fischer Homes is branding the new development as the Cloverlin.
Our region, according to a housing strategies report released in 2025, lacks sufficient housing for young adults forming their first household; for essential workers like nurses, teachers and first responders; and for older adults. A teacher with a median annual income of $43,740, for example, can afford only 26% of the rental and 16% of the for-sale housing in the region, according to the report. For a restaurant server, only 1% of the region’s rental housing is affordable.
An older person relying on Social Security can also afford only 1% of rental housing in the region, according to the report.
The report, called Home for All: Northern Kentucky Housing Strategies, came to be thanks to more than 90 leaders and experts from across NKY who spent hours studying the region and its urgent housing challenge. Their goal was to close the housing gap across income levels and provide a place for everyone.
Click here to learn more about the shortage and how NKY leaders and community members are stepping in to find solutions.
Understanding NKY’s housing shortage
The land itself is an old family farm off Longbranch Road adjacent to the Ballyshannon and Woodvale developments. The land spans just over 78 acres. Grand Communities, an LLC subsidiary of Fischer Homes, has requested to change the land’s current agricultural zone to a suburban residential one/planned development zone.
Fischer Homes Chair Greg Fischer spoke at the meeting, pitching the development to the planning commissioners and residents in attendance.
“While it is an independent submittal and zoning, it is part of the broader context of the community that we’ve built,” Fischer said. “We love this location. Our customers love this location.”
Cloverlin’s density would be 8.77 units per acre, but the overall combined Ballyshannon and Cloverlin developments’ density would be between 3 and 4 units per acre, according to Fischer’s presentation. Fischer said the starting price for the condos was about $220,000, with the remaining units’ prices being about $320,000.
Fischer said the new development would increase local tax revenue, the region’s housing stock and the potential for new jobs. He also pointed to the housing units’ varied prices as selling points in his presentation.
Yet, there will be several obstacles to getting this development to completion, most notably the ongoing redistricting of Boone County Schools. Ballyshannon Middle School is located in the center of the Ballyshannon subdivision and is currently at capacity.
“Ballyshannon (Middle School) now has capacity due to the recent redistricting and will have additional capacity once the grandfathered students from redistricting move on over the next two years,” Boone County Schools Assistant Superintendent Kim Best had written in a statement to the planning commission.
“As I am sure you are aware, Longbranch is also at capacity….,” Best’s statement continued. “If they plan to have a substantial number of homes completed and occupied soon, then yes, this will still be a hardship for Longbranch. If it is planned for 2030 or after, then there will be capacity to support new developments.”
Fischer had stated in his presentation that Fischer Homes was hoping to begin building next year. The Boone County Board of Education voted last week not to redistrict students from Longbranch.
Planning Commission Chair Charlie Rolfsen likewise pointed to the redistricting as a key issue.
“For a lot of the commission, that’s the issue — is the school,” Rolfsen said. “Especially if you have children, you don’t want your children being bused.”
County Planner Steve Lilly also pointed out that much of the new development’s open space would be inaccessible. And even though Fischer Homes was completing a traffic impact study, the available data was likely inadequate to understand the effect on traffic, according to Lilly. Additionally, the new development would create nine new intersections on Shamrock Drive, which is already classified as a limited access road.
Finally, Lilly said, “the alignment for the future Camp Ernst Road is not approved yet,” which the Union Fire District had pointed out as a potential problem.
Then there were the concerns of residents. Numerous area residents spoke out against the development at the meeting, citing worries about traffic, density, affordability and the effect on the schools and the environment. No residents spoke in favor of the development.
The planning commission’s zoning change subcommittee will discuss the zoning change request later this month, and then cast a recommendation vote on Nov. 4.
Greg Fischer sits on the Managing Board of LINK nky, which oversees the business operations of LINK but has no say in editorial matters.
