If you’ve driven recently into southern Kenton County you’ve likely seen signs like this and wondered what they mean. “S.R.I.” is Kenton County government’s abbreviation for its “Site Readiness Initiative” plan which would make preparations to attract manufacturing facilities and warehouses to be built on agricultural and rural lands in the southwestern section of the county between Maher Rd. and the Grant County line. Many residents in southern Kenton County strongly oppose this idea, which is why they are buying and posting these signs on their properties.
Much of the land in question has very little access to public water, sewers, natural gas or large enough electricity capacity. According to the S.R.I., our county and the utilities would make these improvements as an investment to attract manufacturers and other heavy businesses. Narrow 2-lane rural roads would also be widened and improved for future heavy truck traffic. Creating a new connection between US-25 and I-75/71 has also been suggested. All this would cost a huge amount of money. And when it’s all done, the developments would permanently change the rural and agricultural characteristics which are loved and cherished by current residents in the area.
Most folks who live in southern Kenton County were either born and raised there or they moved there because they loved the rural and agricultural characteristics of the area. More than a decade ago local residents formed an association, the South Kenton County Citizens Group, to help preserve the area’s rural and agricultural characteristics by working with county leaders to make South Kenton zoning and land use regulations more appropriate for a rural and agricultural area. The effort was successful and Kenton County’s leaders seemed supportive and helpful.
But early in 2025 county leaders announced their S.R.I. plan, then held public hearings about it at two locations in southern Kenton County, Piner Elementary School and Simon Kenton High School. Each public hearing attracted huge crowds of residents who were shocked at what they heard and opposed it. But hardly anybody in northern Kenton County was informed about S.R.I. or the fact that the majority of southern Kenton County residents oppose it.
We want to change that.
We in southern Kenton County not only want our northern county friends to become aware of the S.R.I. plan, but also to support us in opposing it. So much of our rural and agricultural lands in Northern Kentucky have been developed for other uses already. Please help us to preserve southern Kenton County’s remaining rural lands and agricultural heritage.
If you’re unfamiliar with southern Kenton County’s rural and agricultural areas, drive south on KY-17 until you pass KY-16, then keep going. Or drive south on KY-177 until you pass Ryland Heights, then keep going. Or drive south on US-25 until you pass the big warehouses south of Richwood, then keep going.
We in Kenton County are so lucky to have so much nearby beautiful rural and agricultural lands. We are lucky farming is still viable in our county. We hope you agree and want to help us preserve it.
Please ask county leaders and upcoming election candidates to abandon the S.R.I. plan for southern Kenton County and to preserve our county’s rural lands and agricultural heritage. Please inform your friends and neighbors too.
We in southern Kenton County thank you.
John Robbins lives in Mornining View and is a member of the South Kenton County Citizens Group. He is current chair of Sierra Club’s Northern Kentucky Group and is an environmentalist. He is a semi-retired home and addition designer and a consultant on energy efficiency and renewable energy. He found his dream homesite where trees and greenspace were abundant.