Despite opposition from some residents, the Southgate City Council voted to approve a zone change to allow a new residential development in the city.
Stage one plans for 575 residential units in Southgate between Moock Road and I-471 at Fox Chase Drive in Southgate, requested by Grand Communities LLC and managed by Fischer Land Development LLC, were approved by the Campbell County Planning and Zoning Commission in November 2023. The vote by the city council on Feb. 7 was the last hurdle the development needed to pass before it became official.
At the previous council meeting on Jan. 17, the council voted 4-2 to uphold the findings and recommendation of the planning commission for the zone change. Council members Mike Lycans and Mark Messmer voted no on Jan. 17 to accept the findings. Lycans also voted no to Wednesday’s zone change; Messmer was not in attendance.
Southgate Mayor Jim Hamberg did not vote because he is not part of the legislative body.
Southgate residents, specifically Woodland Hills residents, have been outspoken at previous meetings regarding the development; however, no residents addressed the council at Wednesday’s meeting.
Woodland Hills residents Matthew and Marana Harris have been following the development’s movement and told LINK nky that the land is an area where homes shouldn’t be.
“They’re trying to shoehorn a product in a place it shouldn’t be, and that’s fine for some development, but there are some places you just shouldn’t build,” Matthew Harris said. “We’ve had landslides there and plus all the wildlife that live out there. It’s just it’s just a small tight area.”
Residents at previous meetings have stated concerns about additional traffic on Moock Road and landslide/water runoff that could cause issues in the Woodland Hills neighborhood, located down the hill from the proposed development.
A study by the Northern Kentucky Area Development district revealed troubling trends for housing in the region, with a need to build 6,650 housing units to support economic development in the next five years. The largest need is for “workforce housing,” which refers to households whose wages ranged from $15 to $25 with monthly housing costs between $500 and $1,500. The region needs about 3,000 more housing units to provide for people within that income range. The study also found that the demand for one- to two-bedroom rentals and owned properties consistently exceeds their supply, while supply for three and four-bedroom properties consistently exceeds demand. Read more here.
Understanding NKY’s housing shortage
Regarding residents’ concerns about water runoff and hillside slippage, Fischer Homes Chairman Greg Fischer said at a previous meeting on the development that roughly 20 acres of the site would have water collected into their detention ponds and released into the existing drainage slower than it’s collected. Fischer said that will reduce peak flow by 15-20% of what it is today.
The community coined “Sunrock” comprises just over 85 acres and will include single-family detached homes, townhomes, carriage homes, paired patio homes, and apartments.
The tax benefits that come with the approval of the development plans are $10 million over 40 years to Campbell County, $48 million over 40 years to Campbell County Schools, and $46 million over 40 years to Southgate. The site is estimated to be a $120 million-plus development.
Sunrock would be located in the Campbell County School District.
Southgate Mayor Jim Hamberg said the tax benefits that come with the IRB will keep Southgate growing rather than raising taxes.
“This was our effort to help a future city council by giving us additional funds available for repaving (roads) in later years,” Hamberg said.
Without an IRB, Hamberg said the city risks having a lesser development constructed. He also said Southgate is not contributing any upfront costs nor any hard costs during or after the construction from its general fund.
He said they would have increased public works and safety needs as development progressed but would reap the benefits of the new dollars to offset those costs in the future.
“We need new development if we are going to progress as a city,” Hamberg said. “The only way we can survive with increased cost in safety, material cost of street repair, including upkeep of personnel expense is to either increase taxes on our residents and businesses or provide new development as a whole and hopefully in the next few years begin to reduce those taxes or to keep taxes static or moderate.”
Marana and Matthew Harris said cities are supposed to give tax incentives to developers who need help building, which, in this case, they didn’t think applied.
“I understand what an IRB is for, but in this case, I mean they’re giving a tax break to a company that makes over a billion a year,” Matthew Harris said.
Here is a timeline for the Sunrock development through 2030:
Greg Fischer sits on the Managing Board of LINK nky, which oversees the business operations of LINK, but has no say in editorial matters.