Update: 10:30 p.m.
At the Campbell County Planning and Zoning meeting held on March 8, the Planning and Zoning commission convened to vote on two different business items. The first decision was for a zone change, and the second was for the stage one plans by Maronda Homes for the development.
The commission voted for a continuation of the meeting next month, as requested by the applicant Maronda Homes. They did not vote on the requested zone change or approval for the stage one plans at tonight’s meeting. The next meeting will take place on April 12.
Maronda Homes requested a continuation of the hearing after several items changed in their stage one plan that was not on record for the Planning and Zoning meeting on March 8.
During the meeting, commissioner Justin Verst made a motion to approve the zone change, followed by a second from Commissioner Mike Williams; however, the Planning and Zoning board could not pass on this zone change to the fiscal court without the stage one plan. Resulting in them both being continued until April 12.
Many residents along Alexandria Pike and South Licking Pike gave their opposed statements to be considered by the commission at the meeting. Most of the comments consistent among those opposed were concerns on traffic, safety on Alexandria Pike and South Licking Pike and school capacity.
Public comments at the March 8 meeting will remain on record for the new meeting; however further public comment after the changes by Maronda Homes depends on how significant the changes are in the new stage one plan.
Harry Meeks said he lives on Alexandria Pike about a quarter mile from the proposed site. His main concerns are safety and traffic. He said cars fly up South Licking Pike, and during drop off and pick-ups at school, the road gets blocked with cars parking on both sides of the street.
“I see people walking their dogs, joggers; these roads aren’t suited for that,” Meeks said. “It’s not a safe situation. That’s my main concern. We moved out to stay rural, and here we go again. It’s not much fun. In the summer, you’ll see 50-60 bicyclers on the road you put that subdivision in, and something catastrophic could happen.”
Commenters brought up that the applicant had discussed the amount of “vehicle trips generated” coming in and out of the subdivision.
The representative for Maronda Homes said they would generate 1,135, with 1,500 directional vehicle trips per day (based on federal guidelines on subdivisions) being the maximum allowed to enter and exit. They generated 83 trips during peak a.m. hours and 111 during peak p.m. hours.
She said they are not triggering an impact on local traffic.
Along with many other concerned citizens, Sandy Snell said, “Before you consider more homes in the area, please realize our schools are already bursting at the seams.”
One resident of South Licking Pike of 29 years spoke to the dangers of the road from school traffic.
“If you have ever gone down Alexandria pike on a school day, the buses do not obey the speed limit, the students do not obey the speed limit,” Margaret Vogel said. “My next-door neighbor was hit broadside at 9 a.m. by a student who ran a red light. He suffered 40 days in intensive care. It’s bad enough that we have the two schools…I highly, highly oppose more homes being built.”
Commissioner Mike Williams said he did not feel good basing a decision on school-generated traffic.
“I don’t care if you’re in rural Boone, Kenton, or Campbell; you’re going to have school traffic anywhere you go,” Williams said. “We’re past the days of the little schoolhouse. I’m not ready to make the assumption that every home will have two cars or two kids. I looked over the comprehension plan. It meets the criteria for a zone change. I’d like for someone to tell me if I’m wrong.”
Regarding the traffic concerns, Williams said to go to the Fiscal Court.
“You’re in the wrong place; we cannot do anything about that,” Williams said. “They might be able to influence the county police to control it better.”
Commissioner Justin Verst made comments regarding the cluster overlay design of the development. He said he would rather see a housing development that helps preserve the natural resources and land in the area like the one proposed by Maronda Homes than another type of development.
Verst said he agreed with Williams. He could not find anything, not complying with a zone change in the comprehensive plan.
He said that area along Highway 27 would expand because it is in a prime location for development with adequate road access, the water and sewer systems in place, nearby schools and the fire and police stations.
Original story
A proposal for a development on Licking Pike in Alexandria is expected to be the main topic of conversation at the Campbell County Planning and Zoning meeting Tuesday night.
Maronda Homes is seeking approval of stage one plans for single-family residential development for 93 homes on approximately 47 acres located at 10743 S Licking Pike.
The 47 acres in question are near Reiley Elementary School, Campbell County High School, Tyson Foods and AJ Jolly Park. Executive Director of Northern Kentucky Area Development District Lisa Cooper said more housing is needed in the area. These businesses and schools around the proposed site would make it a prime location for housing.
“I know housing is needed tremendously,” Cooper said. “Just from our standpoint, you know, we’ve been dealing with a lot of employers that can’t get folks into the workforce. And one of the reasons they can’t hire people is because they have no place to live that is affordable. And I don’t know what the affordability is if they’re market rate if they’re affordable housing if they’re higher end. But that location and being next to Tyson could be huge for development for that company and businesses around there.”
Staff comments from the staff report provided by Campbell County Planning and Zoning said the proposed map amendment is in agreement with the adopted comprehensive plan for Campbell County.
“I spent all day yesterday, meeting with the governor and the economic development staff, with a number of our elected officials, talking about site development, and it’s interesting one of the projects was site development around Tyson,” Cooper said. “That whole area is primed for some development.”
The meeting will also determine a zone change for the proposed residential development. The current zoning is R-1A Residential One-A Zone. The proposed zoning is Residential One C (R-1C) with a Residential Cluster Development (RCD) Overlay. Per Section 10.14, the Residential Cluster Development Overlay Zone, Item H – The zone must be a minimum of 10 acres. The site proposed is over 46 acres.
The site is not in an agricultural district and is currently served by public water and sewer.
The proposed project timeline has infrastructure construction beginning in April to May of 2023, with home construction beginning in June.
Some residents around the proposed site and in more rural Campbell County are not thrilled about the idea of more development.
“I live in the southern part of the county right before the Pendleton County line, and, you know, that’s just a really big development to put this far out,” Kelli Helton said. “The roads aren’t equipped for that. There’s already a ton of wrecks at the [Campbell County] high school where the light is at Lickert road. You know, and you’re talking about adding more here, and the schools are already at overcapacity.”
Helton said all of the developments going along highway 27 have already created a traffic issue.
“There’s so many developments going up too fast,” Helton said. “In my opinion, Arcadia should have had their own post office, school and everything as big as that is. Traffic is ridiculous. You can’t even get through half the time anymore. It takes you forever — 27 isn’t equipped for that. It just seems like everything is going up so fast, and there’s not any consideration for what’s going on.”
Not only does Helton think the development will create more traffic, but she and other Campbell County residents in the “Heads Up Campbell County” Facebook Group noted the less than favorable ratings that Maronda Homes have received over the years.
“I started researching the builder when somebody in [the Facebook group] said to and wow, their review rates and their Better Business Bureau rating that’s scary to bring that to our county,” Helton said. “So, on Better Business Bureau, I saw they hit a D rating. And then the other one that I posted [Consumer Affairs], I believe was a 1.5 and, everything was low quality, bad building, but I mean, that’s a lot of the builders, but that one just seemed like a lot of red flags.”
Maronda Homes currently serves Pennsylvania, Georgia, Kentucky, Florida and Ohio. They have a 1.5-star rating out of five with 124 reviews in Consumer Reports.
Another issue Helton said she has is that schools in the area are already at max capacity, and that issue should be addressed first before more homes are built.
“They’re already telling us our schools are too packed, and we need new schools, and we haven’t even built the ones we bought the property for, and I just think it needs to slow down,” Helton said. “Now, if it’s a progression over, you know, five years down the road, let’s talk about it but let’s get our schools where things can be handled. You know, it just seems like they’re putting the cart before the horse. They’re not thinking it through.”
The issue will be discussed March 8, at 6:30 p.m. at the Campbell County Fiscal Court Chambers, 1098 Monmouth Street in Newport, Kentucky.
