The Kenton County Planning Commission voted to table requests to waive subdivision regulations on 24 acres of heavily wooded land in Erlanger near the end of Pleasure Isle Drive on Thursday.
The land abuts Erlanger’s Sherbourne neighborhood, and the land’s owner, Nathan Arnold (who is not a developer) hoped in time to develop the land into three large estate-style properties, in addition to the house that’s already on the land.
Arnold has owned the land since 2013. A tenant-occupied house that can only be accessed through a private easement is located along Pleasure Isle Drive near part of the land’s lowest elevation point, close to a nearby railroad. The easement dates back to 1967. Arnold hoped to split the area where the house is located off into its own parcel and waive the requirement mandating a new lot be connected to a public road.
His desire to divide the land parcels also would have created three so-called flag lots. Flag lots get their names due to their resemblance to a flag on a pole in that they have a “long, slender strip of land extending from the street back to the main part of the parcel, which opens up to meet the minimum lot width requirements per the local zoning code,” according to documents from Kenton County Planning and Development services. Having more than two flag lots next to each other is not permitted under Kenton County Subdivision regulations, except on land zoned for agriculture.
The professional staff of Kenton County Planning and Development Services and the City of Erlanger—in a letter penned by City Administrator Peter Glenn—recommended against the waiver requests.
Planning and Development Services Director of Infrastructure Engineering Laura Tenfelde pointed out that the closest public right of way for the land is on Rising Ridge Drive in the Sherbourne neighborhood.
The road terminates into a dead end rather than a cul de sac, which usually signals that the land beyond may eventually be developed. Tenfelde said that one way the land could be developed without the waivers would be to build a cul de sac at the end of Rising Ridge. Although she admitted that such a measure would likely cost more money for Arnold, in planning services’ opinion, the fact that that portion of land was developable coupled with the current land’s lack of public access made the waivers unwarranted.
“Because the property is developable as it exists today, staff is recommending denial of waivers,” Tenfelde said. “It is staff’s opinion that both waiver requests are in conflict with the intent and purpose of the county subdivision regulations.”
Eventually, Arnold told LINK nky that the goal was to sell the three remaining parcels and develop them into large wooded estate properties. Arnold believed the unusual topography of the area warranted the waivers and gave a presentation to the commissioners outlining his arguments for them.
Specifically, the topography would make utility installation and other typically required construction overly costly, Arnold argued. Moreover, he hoped to maintain the land’s wooded nature and believed more construction than necessary might upend that characteristic.
“We’re not really trying to alter the landscape,” Arnold said. “We’re trying to keep it natural.”
The commissioners themselves were less concerned with the flag lots and more concerned with the easement and the problems it might cause for emergency access. If there was no public right of way onto the land, fire trucks and other emergency vehicles might struggle to reach the houses on the hill in a timely fashion.
“In my mind that’s unsafe,” said commissioner Paul Darpel. “It can be a real problem for us.”
Discussion continued, and the commissioners wondered if perhaps there was an alternative to the waiver requests.
“It just seems like there’s other opportunities on this property that may lend themselves to a better configuration,” said commissioner Philip Ryan.
Arnold expressed some concerns about ballooning costs: He wasn’t a big corporate developer, after all, and he had already dumped a hefty investment into creating the plan he submitted to the commission. In the end, however, he requested the commission table a decision on the waivers to see if he could come up with an alternative.
The planning commission then unanimously voted to table the decision. Arnold now has six months to present an alternative plan to the commission.
The next meeting of the Kenton County Planning Commission will take place on Wednesday, July 10 at the Kenton County Government Center on Simon Kenton Way in Covington.
