The Kenton County Planning Commission voted in an 11 to 8 vote to deny a zoning request for a proposed condo development on a 9.5-acre cluster of land in Independence at their meeting Thursday night, following heated pleas from residents opposing the development.
Called The Haven at Liberty Grove, the development would be located on the east side of Madison Pike, or KY-17, in Independence. The proposed development would have 124 condo units spread throughout 16 buildings. It would also feature 296 parking spaces: 80 driveways, 80 garage spaces and 136 off-street parking spaces.
The area consists of several land parcels, which would be developed by Madison Pike Partners, LLC. The development would contain Fischer Homes and sport a density of 14.8 units per net acre.
Kenton County Planning and Development Services staff gave a favorable recommendation for the development but with conditions, saying that developers needed to add sidewalks on both sides of the streets throughout the development and that the material used to make the walking trails throughout the complex needed to be hard and slip resistant. The developers stated they would use concrete or blacktop to meet the latter condition.
Many community members from nearby neighborhoods, however, came out to speak against the development. Most were concerned with the traffic that might arise.
Former Independence City Council Member Jaimie Henson, who lives on Madison Pike across from the development, expressed this concern when she addressed the commission.
“It is a two-lane highway, 25-mile-an-hour road,” Henson said. “… You’re going to create a humongous traffic problem in a very small two-block area of Independence.”
She also doubted whether the development was what the area actually needed.
“There’s nothing in the Independence downtown area to revitalize,” Henson said, saying that there were only two buildings in the area currently available for commercial development.
“So I’m not sure what Independent City Council… are trying to revitalize in that area,” Henson said. ” The things that were going on at the courthouse are permanently–and positively–moved down to the new community center and the park down by the Kroger shopping center.”
Henson’s statement elicited applause from the people in the audience.
HRezo Engineering’s Jim Bertram argued the condo complex beside Madison Pike and Heartland Boulevard would provide much-needed housing stock in the area and lead to increased economic activity in the downtown Independence district, as reported by WCPO.
A study by the Northern Kentucky Area Development district last year revealed that the region needs to build 6,650 housing units to support economic development in the next five years, with the largest need being for “workforce housing” for households whose wages range from $15 to $25 with monthly housing costs between $500 and $1,500. The study found that the current housing in Boone, Kenton and Campbell is positioned for middle to upper-middle professional incomes, but affordability for warehouse, service, and low wage healthcare workers is currently lacking and will be exacerbated by incoming residents. The study suggests that subsidized housing programs and preservation of naturally occurring affordable housing are necessary and viable strategies to ensure adequate workforce housing. Read more.
Understanding NKY’s housing shortage
Other speakers shared similar concerns. The commission had also received about 15 letters from residents protesting the development.
One resident, Melissa Boyers, even argued that the traffic was so bad already that it had led to an accident in her backyard. She said she recorded the event to give to the commissioners as evidence, but she was not able to play the video at the meeting.
Besides representatives from the developers, only one person, Josh Deters, who owns part of the land, signed up to speak in support of the development, but he ended up yielding his time.
The commissioners themselves were split on the issue.
Commission Chair Brian Dunham said that traffic could become a legitimate problem, but it’s impossible to know for sure without a traffic study, which hadn’t been performed yet.
“[Traffic] is going to be dealt with by the traffic impact study,” Dunham said, adding that concerns about building height would likely be mitigated because the development was going to sit at a very low elevation compared to the neighboring areas.
Others took issue with the development’s proposed density.
“I think it’s way too dense,” Commissioner Gailen Bridges said, a sentiment shared by Commission Vice Chair Paul Darpel.
The commission cast two votes. The first was the approval of the zoning change, which the commission voted down. The next was to deny the applicant’s request based on the view that the development was inconsistent with the county’s comprehensive plan. The motion was made by Sean Pharr, one of the commission representatives from Covington. That motion led to an 11 to 8 vote to disapprove.
The decision as to whether or not the development will continue now falls to the Independence City Council, which will take up the issue in the coming months.
The next meeting of the Kenton County Planning Commission will take place on Thursday, March 7 at 6:15 p.m. at Kenton County Government Center on Simon Kenton Way.