Plans for a barbecue restaurant and office building near Madison Pike and Dudley Road in Edgewood arrived for consideration at Edgewood city council this week.
The proposed development, from former local attorney and media personality Eric Deters, was given the OK by the Kenton County Planning Commission for a zoning map amendment in October, changing 990, 996, and 998 Dudley Rd. from professional office zoning to highway commercial. The vote was 10-4 to approve.
But the planning commission is merely a recommending body here, and city council has a more formal say in the possible zone change.
Constructing an office building, where Deters said that his namesake law firm and media company would relocate, would not be much of an issue since the land is already zoned for that use. But the barbecue restaurant, which Deters said would be called Liberty BBQ, would be entirely for drive-through customers, requiring the change.
Council has ninety days to make a decision following the October decision by the planning commission. And though it is currently unclear, city officials said Monday, when that ninetieth day arrives in January, city council was divided in its support and opposition to the change.
One particular area of concern is traffic around Dudley and Madison Pike, also known as Ky. 17.
Carol Callan-Ramler, a project engineer at the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet – District 6 Office, argued through a letter to the planning commission that the area is not suited for the drive-through restaurant business. On Monday night in Edgewood, she said that there are multiple locations that could see heightened crash situations.
She is hoping to secure grant funding for a traffic project in the area, she said.
“There is no easy fix down there,” Callan-Ramler said.
Edgewood’s city council meeting where the zone change was discussed, was restricted only to talking about the same issues that were presented at the planning commission, City Attorney Frank Wichmann explained.
Kenton County Planning & Development Services (PDS) Director of Infrastructure Engineering Laura Tenfeld said that the development would be placed on a road off Dudley, Sperti, and a left-turn lane would be required, which would automatically trigger a traffic study.
Deters noted that the planning commission supported the zone change, and said that he disagreed with Callan-Ramler’s points. Deters argued that the development would add no additional traffic and would improve the area.
Councilman Jeff Schreiver said that the zone change would go against the county comprehensive plan and that he is not in favor of the zone change, and would be against a monastery or Disney World, if they were to be constructed on the site.
Schreiver offered multiple elements from the comprehensive plan into the discussion and said that it does not include a restaurant for that area.
Councilwoman Darla Kettenacker agreed with Schreiver saying that nothing has changed in the past two-plus years that would warrant an adjustment to the comprehensive plan.
Schreiver motioned to vote against the recommendation from the planning commission and Kettenacker offered a second. They were joined by Councilman Joe Messmer in voting against it.
But Councilwoman Kim Wolking said that she watched October’s planning commission meeting multiple times and believes that the zone change is appropriate. Councilman Ben Barlage agreed. They were joined by Councilman Dale Henson in voting to support the planning commission’s recommendation.
That resulted in a 3-3 tie vote.
Councilman Rob Thelen, the seventh member, was absent from Monday’s meeting, and while typically the mayor can break a tie vote, that is not the case in a zoning matter.
Wolking then made a motion to vote again, and the same 3-3 result occurred.
City Administrator Brian Dehner said that the issue could be revisited at the next meeting on January 17, or a special meeting could be called before then once it is determined when the 90-day deadline expires.
-Patricia A. Scheyer, RCN contributor
