By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
In an unexpected move by Independence City Council, the decision to overturn a recommendation of Planning and Development Services of Kenton County for a specific development passed with a vote of 4 to 2.
Due to comments made by residents to the city about not knowing there had been a public hearing held by PDS, the city decided to hold their own public hearing, before the regularly scheduled council meeting this week. PDS Principal Planner Cody Sheets attended as well as Director of Planning Andy Videkovich.
Several residents attended.
Kate Brandy, Vice President of Leasing and Site Acquisition at Brandicorp, talked after PDS, spelling out the plans for a 40-acre site located on the west side of Oliver Road, and the east side of Kentucky 17, with Centennial Boulevard to the southwest and McCullum Road to the north, approximately one mile south of McCullum Pike.
She said they wanted to put 336 apartments in approximately 14 buildings on 23.1 acres that they wanted to rezone multi-family residential Planned Unit Development, or PUD.
Since it is a multi-use development, they wanted 16.97 acres to be zoned community commercial, and they would like to lease about 10 spaces to businesses like an oil change business, a car wash, 5 drive through fast food places, a sit-down restaurant and a bank. These were not set in stone; Brandy said that the residential side would be built first and then the commercial would follow, based on the needs of the residents.
Currently, the zoning is RRE, or Residential Rural Estate, which has a density of one unit per acre.
What Brandicorp was asking for in their multi-residential was a density of 15.46 units per acre, in a zone that allows 7.1 units to 30 units per acre.
The projected pricing for their one bedroom one bath unit was $1,400 per month, their two bedroom 2 bath units would have been $1,595, and their three bedroom 2 bath units would have been $1,800 per month.
Brandy said that the residents who live in Independence tend to stay in the city a fairly long time, meaning that they like the city and want to stay in the city. But when their children are grown and they might want to downsize, these apartments would be exactly what they will need. She referred to studies in NKY that pointed out the need for more housing.
“We are trying to create something nice here,” she said.
There would be a pool, and a community center as well as a fitness center in the plans and the apartments would be pet friendly.
Then it was the residents’ turn to speak.
One resident was in favor of the large development.
Several residents spoke against it.
Nichole Launder brought up one of the major concerns of all the residents, which is where the schools would put all the new students. Mayor Chris Reinersman at first discounted any objection to the development based on schools because it is a Fair Housing violation to object to a development due to families with children being housed in the new development, and schooled in the community. He said it was the school district’s responsibility to make sure there are enough schools.
“Schools cannot be a factor in zoning decisions,” he said. “It is ill advised to make school capacity a factor in decisions.”
Despite his words, people were very concerned about the impact on the schools.
“Already we have three kids to a bus seat and some of the kids have been sitting on the floor of the bus,” said Launder. She pointed out that only one resident spoke for the project and noted that that fact spoke volumes for the opposition to the project.
Another significant point of opposition was the fact that some of the people didn’t think the current roads could handle the enormous influx of new residents on the roads.
Resident Rob Miller pointed out the congestion on Ky 17 already at times was at a standstill, and said he has seen police cars stuck in the traffic on the two-lane road. He thought the city was too overcrowded already and could not support more residents that would crowd the roads.
David Coyle, another resident, recalled what happened in Richmond and Nicholasville Kentucky, cities who kept putting developments in without supporting the developments with adequate infrastructure. He stressed that the infrastructure in the city of Independence can’t support the new development. Coyle brought up the fact that in Trooper’s Crossing people are speeding and running stop signs due to not enough police patrolling the area. He said the new Publix store would create more traffic once it opens, and so will the Downs of Nicholson.
“Let’s plan for the future and get more infrastructure going,” Coyle said.
Later, in council discussion, council member Tom Brinker acknowledged that cities very rarely put in new roads in anticipation of a development. Also, the traffic study for this development lagged behind all the planning.
Resident Lauren Moe stood up to point out that people from Florence, Union, and Edgewood leave their cities to move to Independence because of the small town atmosphere. She said she was against the project because she did not want Independence to be another Union and she said she could see the writing on the wall that it was going to happen. With school age children, she said the schools are already overcrowded.
“I feel like we are putting the cart before the horse, with the highway (536) that is coming through, and when the highway does come through, over by Krogers, we’re going to put at least 300 more people on top of the traffic we already have,” she stated. “I just think that’s a bad idea.”
Dan Burgey said he didn’t like that the new project would be duplicating commercial amenities that the city already offers.
It was also mentioned that $1400 for a one bedroom apartment is too pricey for most older people, and residents were wondering just who would be able to afford the apartments.
Council members discussed the main opposition points such as not enough infrastructure, the impact on schools and roads, and the loss of the small town feel. The issues were given due thought, with the members going back and forth in serious discussion. Council member Brinker asked Brandicorp VP of Development and Construction Mike Doty if they would be willing to compromise on the density of the apartments, but Doty basically said no, they couldn’t change that.
Even CAO Chris Moriconi jumped in when roads were discussed to say that back in the early 2000’s he was told that Ky 536 was going to be improved as a major highway, and it would be finished in 2014. Now they are working on it and officials say it will be done at the end of 2027. He added that it takes 20 years to build a road in Kentucky, but only 5 years in Ohio.
When discussion flagged, Mayor Reinersman reopened the council meeting and asked for a motion on the second reading of the ordinance that changed the zoning to permit the map amendment and concept development plan.
The silence was deafening.
Finally, Councilmember Greg Steffen made a motion to deny the development. Council member Carol Franzen seconded the motion. In addition to Steffen and Franzen, Matthew Fehler, and Chris Vogelpohl voted yes to deny, while Tom Brinker and Greg Waite voted no. It was a difficult vote for the members, and a few admitted they were torn about it.
However, at least two of the residents had conceded in their comments that they knew their opinion didn’t matter much in the long run, and Mayor Reinersman had immediately contradicted that, saying their opinions did matter and that was why everyone was here at a second public hearing.
It turned out their opinion did matter.