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Planners say no to Wilmore development

February 15, 2007|Lisa King

County planners vetoed a zone change that would have allowed a 204-acre subdivision across from the Ichthus property in Wilmore.

The Jessamine County-City of Wilmore Joint Planning Commission voted 5-3 Tuesday night to recommend denial of a zone change request for the development, which was submitted by Tugger, LLC, for property located westerly of U.S. 68, opposite the Ichthus fairgrounds.

Engineer John Horne presented the proposal and outlined the highlights of the development plan, explaining that streets were aligned in such a way as to preserve many old trees. Also, he said water will be provided by the Jessamine South Elkhorn Water District. He described the development as upscale, with homes in the $780,000 price range. He emphasized the importance of the revenue that the taxes from the development will bring, which he estimated at $12,177 per lot.

"Wilmore needs that money, what with all of the tax-exempt property they have, with their elementary schools, the college, the veteran's center, and the churches," he said.

Horne said the tax-exempt property in Wilmore exceeds that of the taxable property by a margin of $165,575,817 to $151,946,643.

Public comment on the matter was mixed. Most Wilmore residents who spoke were opposed to the development, including Tim Gibson, owner of Solomon's Porch, who said that he moved to Kentucky because he wanted to live in a rural setting.

"I'm sure these will be beautiful houses," he said. "But I don't want to look out my window and see houses, I want to see farmland."

Margaret Morgan of Wilmore spoke in favor of the development.

"We know we have a lot of institutions that are not taxed ... and we need funds desperately, sometimes we have just pennies to work with," she said.

But planners did not like the fact that the development did not conform to the county's comprehensive plan because the location of the property falls outside the urban service boundary.

"To just go in and tear the comprehensive plan apart is not the thing to do," said planner James McKinney. "The urban service boundary was established and to violate the plan we have, I just have a real struggle with that."

The matter will now go before the Wilmore City Council, who can overturn the planning commission's decision if they so chose. To do that, however, the council would have to hold another public hearing first and base its decision on that hearing.

The planners also approved construction plans for Sanctuary at Tates Creek, a 56-lot development submitted by Smedley LLC for property located on Tates Creek Road, and a zone change request from A-1 to B-1 was approved for 8 acres of property on Groggins Ferry, submitted by Mitch Canup.

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