Erlanger finalizes zoning for 450-unit Corporex development

Zoning has been finalized for a 450-unit Corporex development along Dolwick Drive in Erlanger.

The Erlanger City Council voted to approve zoning for the development Tuesday night, with only one Council Member, Jennifer Jasper-Lucas, choosing to abstain from the vote. Abstentions count with the majority, and the remaining council members in attendance voted to approve the zoning.

The land spans about 46 acres and is located on the north side of Dolwick Drive, which itself is near the interstate. A tiny portion of the land, less than an acre, crosses over into Crescents Springs, but only the roughly 45 acres in Erlanger were the subject of the zoning approvals. Turfway Road is to the west, and Crescent Springs Road is to the east.

Corporex has owned the land since the 1980s and sought to change the land’s zoning from its current business park zone to a multi-family residential zone. The preliminary development plan presented to and approved by the Kenton County Planning Commission on Oct. 2 calls for the construction of 450 apartments and 550 parking spaces. The site is currently vacant and heavily wooded, but has been graded for development.

The developers also asked to remove a requirement for detached garages in multi-family residential districts, a move that will facilitate the development. The council voted to approve this request on Tuesday, as well.

The plan calls for the construction of six, four-story buildings, each with at least 60 units (the larger buildings have as many as 90 units). It has one access point on Dolwick Drive. Other amenities in the plan include a swimming pool, tennis courts, a hiking trail and a clubhouse.

Correspondence between county professionals and Corporex indicates that the units would be of varying sizes, with market-rate rents ranging from $1,500 to $1,900 per month.

Erlanger Mayor Jessica Fette, Executive Director of the Northern Kentucky Area Development District Tara Johnson Noem and Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce President Brent Cooper sent letters in support of the development to the planning commission before its meeting in October. Each believed it addressed a need for housing in the region.

Proponents pointed to either a 2023 housing study from the Northern Kentucky Area Development District or a subsequent housing initiative called Home for All, which argues the region needs 6,650 additional housing units by 2028 to keep up with job growth.

The developers, on the other hand, said the complex would help attract tenant businesses to the nearby Circleport project. Greg Scheper, a representative from Corporex, told the planning commission a common complaint from potential “end-users,” as he called them, was the lack of housing nearby.

“It’s a real issue, and we’re hearing it from employers,” Scheper said in October.

After approval from the planning commission, the council briefly discussed the development at a meeting in late October after Council Member Tyson Hermes wondered if a public hearing might be warranted for the development.

“If people show up to speak on this, we should definitely listen to what they have to say,” Hermes said in October. “We should give people an opportunity to speak.”

After some discussion, however, the council decided not to have an additional public hearing on the matter. Community members did not come out to comment on the development either Tuesday night or on Nov. 4, when the council did a first reading on the zoning change.

Jasper-Lucas said she would abstain from the vote due to prior removals of multi-family housing as a permitted use.

“I didn’t understand it then, and I’m uncomfortable with how we got here,” Jasper-Lucas said. She didn’t elaborate beyond that, and the other council members did not discuss the zoning at all before casting their votes in favor.