When a developer has an idea for a project in a city, the next steps depend on a key factor:
Who owns the land?
At a recent Fort Thomas City Council meeting, Mayor Eric Haas explained how the city works with developers on potential projects, like the “large grocery store” chain that was proposed for Memorial Parkway in June.
At a June 2 Fort Thomas City Council meeting, city administrator Matt Kremer announced the sale of a 6.8-acre parcel of the Carlisle Park property for $650,000. Although the city declined to name the business, the project was said to be handled by Cincinnati-based developer STNL Development, which is currently developing a property in Owensboro for a Publix grocery store.
After that announcement, Fort Thomas residents made it clear to the city that they did not want that land developed into a grocery store, and the city killed the deal within days.
The possibility of that deal begged the question: What is the process of land acquisition when it is owned by a city versus a private owner?
When a developer is interested in a property, Haas said the city’s involvement depends on who owns the land. If the land is privately owned, the developer may ask the city about zoning or restrictions, but otherwise, the process happens independently between the developer and landowner. The city typically only gets involved when the developer needs planning approvals or zoning changes.
However, if the land is city-owned, the process is different.
The developer must approach the city with an idea. If the city administration is interested in the idea, they present their idea directly to city officials, often in executive sessions where they can ask questions and gather information. In the case of Memorial Parkway, Haas said they held several such sessions before bringing the matter to a public meeting.
Executive sessions allow city officials to discuss real estate negotiations privately under Kentucky’s open meetings law, but any formal vote or action must occur in a public meeting.
Why does the city meet in a closed session about possible development deals versus speaking publicly about its considerations?
Officials meet with developers privately to negotiate terms to protect the city’s bargaining position and avoid jeopardizing sensitive real estate transactions before they are finalized.
City council members can also bring ideas to the administration.
“Once we got all of the information we felt we could receive and could make decisions on, that’s when we brought it back to the meeting,” Haas said.
At the June meeting, resident Elizabeth Allegrini asked theoretically whether the city would be legally required to bring forward a proposal for condominiums if another developer were to submit a proposal for the same site.
City Administrator Matt Kremer said no.
Cities are not obligated to entertain or move forward with proposals for city-owned land — they have full discretion to accept, reject or never present a developer’s idea publicly.
“Since I’ve been here, we’ve had lots of developers come and say, ‘We want to do this,’” Kremer said. “When we know it’s not good for the city, we’re not going to entertain it.”
Kremer added that he doubts developers will approach the city again about that specific property due to how past public discussions played out, but confirmed that any project that moves forward would eventually come before the city council at a public meeting.
Councilmember Eric Strange addressed rumors that the city was actively trying to sell land.
“We were not looking to sell the property,” he said. “We were approached.”
By contrast, when a private landowner sells to a developer, there’s no city decision-making involved in the sale itself — no executive sessions or public oversight. However, the developer still must comply with local zoning laws, and if their plan requires variances or zoning changes, it must go through the planning and zoning commission process.
That happened recently in Alexandria. In early June, Texas-based homebuilder D.R. Horton proposed a 46-lot subdivision. The property owner, Rick Carr, spoke at the meeting about why he and his wife decided to sell the property to D.R. Horton.
Carr said he was golfing with a real estate agent who told him he had the biggest homebuilder in the nation coming to Northern Kentucky and had no property to show them.
That’s when Carr offered his 31 acres.
“I’ve been impressed with D.R. Horton,” Carr said at the June 3 meeting. “Before we ever made a deal with them, we went over and looked at some of their products in Ohio. It looks nice. They seem to build a nice community.”
Although the zoning already allowed for residential development, D.R. Horton needed a variance for smaller lot widths on 36 of the 46 lots, which required a public meeting and planning commission vote.
Even with compatible zoning, developers must demonstrate alignment with the city’s comprehensive plan.
