- Drees Homes withdrew its Boone County rezoning request for a 377-unit project after officials said revisions required a new public hearing.
- Residents raised concerns about traffic safety on U.S. 42 and potential strain on local schools.
- Drees Homes’ revised plan reduced density, added a single entrance, and shifted housing toward empty nesters.
Fort Mitchell-based homebuilder Drees Homes has withdrawn a zone-change application it submitted to the Boone County Planning Commission for a 377-unit suburban development near Union.
In March, Drees Homes submitted an application to the planning commission, looking to rezone an 185-acre area along the west side of U.S. 42, between Rice Pike and Bleu Yacht Lane, from agricultural estate to suburban residential with a planned development overlay. If approved, the zone change would enable the development of a 377-unit residential project.
The acreage, which is currently used for agriculture, is split between two separate parcels of land owned by Bleach Bottle Investments LLC and Gary W. Neltner, according to Boone County property records.
Drees Homes’ proposal calls for the construction of 247 single-family homes and 130 townhome units, along with amenities including a community pool, clubhouse, sidewalks, walking trails and approximately 69 acres of preserved open space. The project had a planned density of 2.05 units per acre.
After receiving pushback from several Boone County residents during a public hearing on March 18 regarding traffic, Drees Homes returned before the planning commission’s Zone Change subcommittee on April 1, where project representatives presented an updated proposal.
Some of the public’s prior concerns included how the prospective development could negatively affect the local school system and exacerbate traffic safety along U.S. 42.
Regarding traffic, an impact study was presented showing a higher-than-expected crash rate in the area, raising safety concerns.
In response to feedback, Drees Homes representatives proposed a revised, scaled-down version of the project. It now features approximately 324 units, a single main entrance on North Drive, the removal of a second access point, and redesigned areas with larger lots and housing aimed at empty-nesters to reduce impact on the school system.
Drees Homes Senior Land Acquisition Specialist Mark Linger said that Drees decided to reduce density to lessen the potential impact on the local school system.
“In doing that, we did reduce the lot count by about 14%, so we went from 377 down to about 324, which density-wise, it equates from two units per acre down to about 1.7 units per acre,” he said. “In addition, because the schools were obviously a very hot topic, what we did, and because the school system didn’t really have feedback for us, what we did is we’ve pretty much made over half of the lots geared toward empty-nesters.”
However, Boone County Zoning Administrator Michael Schwartz said that after consulting with colleague Lauren Elliott, they felt the changes to the original plan were significant enough to warrant another public hearing.
“I talked to Lauren (Elliott) as she’s been communicating with the Drees company, and the modifications that they are suggesting and have stated constitute a major change to this plan, and a new public hearing would have to be held,” he said.
Following the suggestion, Drees Homes formally withdrew its zone-change application, effectively killing the measure for the time being. Drees indicated an appetite to resubmit a revised application in the future, which would be subject to a public hearing.
