The zone change for the Maronda Homes development at 10743 S. Licking Pike was on the agenda at Wednesday night’s Campbell County Fiscal Court meeting.
It was the first reading of an ordinance for a zone change required for this development.
There was no vote. That will happen following a second reading.
Wednesday’s meeting was to decide if the Fiscal Court would rely on the existing record from the planning and zoning commission or hold a public hearing to decide the zone change.
The current zoning for the suggested site is R-1A Residential One-A Zone. The proposed zoning is Residential One C (R-1C) with a Residential Cluster Development (RCD) Overlay. The zone change to a cluster development overlay would allow the developer to put more houses on the site than the current zone would allow.
The lot sizes are proposed to be smaller than the existing zoning requirements to accommodate the existing wetlands in the area and provide for the conservation of open space for community use.
Campbell County Judge/Executive Steve Pendery and Commissioners Brian Painter and Geoff Besecker voted to rely on the existing record by the planning and zoning commission. This means there will not be a public hearing for the zone change. The residents in attendance were not happy with that decision and audibly laughed when Pendery said the court was following the law.
Per County Attorney Steve Franzen, when the court votes at the second reading, the majority of the legislative body (three people) can override the recommendation of the planning and zoning commission. The recommendation will pass if the majority does not oppose, even with a tie vote.
If the Fiscal Court has different findings than the planning commission, it does not need to make additional findings explaining why its decision is different than the planning commissions.
Representatives for Maronda Homes attended the meeting. They signed up to speak but ultimately did not address the court after the motion was passed to rely on the existing record from the planning and zoning commission.
The Campbell County Planning and Zoning board approved the zoning change and stage one development plans for the Maronda Homes subdivision at its meeting on April 12.
Residents showed up to both planning and zoning meetings held to discuss the site plans and the previous Fiscal Court meeting (on May 4) to protest the development.
Residents who spoke about the development all based their reasoning on there being too many houses on too little land.
“The density of the area is not fit for the amount of homes proposed for the acreage,” Alexandria Pike resident Sandra Snell said at the April 12 meeting. “Squeezing a cluster of homes on a hillside above a wetland area is only asking for the devastating results over time for the homebuyers and for our neighborhood. This area does not warrant a zoning change, and I am opposed to it.”
After the planning and zoning board voted to approve the plans and send them to the Fiscal Court, attorney Steve Megerle, who represents residents opposed to the development, said they would take the case to the Campbell County Circuit Court if necessary.
“The next steps, the three county commissioners, judge/executive will have a vote on this,” Megerle said after the April 12 meeting. “They have to act on it in the next 45 days. And the folks are very upset. They moved there for a rural lifestyle, and they will take this every step, including a zoning appeal, because this was an error on its face. And if necessary, go to Campbell Circuit Court at some point in the future should the fiscal court adopt this recommendation that flies in the face of the zoning code.”
The Fiscal Court will vote on the zoning change at its next meeting on June 1 at the Alexandria Courthouse at 7 p.m.
