RICHMOND—The Planning Commission approved three zone changes for Carriage Place, the 200-acre housing development off Berea Road, but not before one Commissioner excused himself from the vote, lest he be accused of bias. It all happened at the City's regularly scheduled Planning Commission meeting for August.

Mike Francis, a career builder and general contractor, told The Edge in an interview, that after two Planning Commissioners complained to Mayor Robert Blythe last month about one of their colleagues being in the pocket of area builders, he'd demonstrate they were wrong by not even voting.

"If I were to abstain, then my vote would go to the majority vote, but if I just didn't vote at all, then it's recorded as a no vote," Francis said in the interview. "I just left the room entirely. I was the one they were complaining about, by the way."

“I fully believe that there’s no conflict of interest, but just to avoid any appearance, he chose not to participate,” City Attorney Chris Johnson told The Edge in an interview following the meeting.

As reported, at issue for Planning Commissioners James Miller, MD, and Coy Perkins, was that a certain member of the Planning Commission was too cozy with the building community to be counted on to vote fairly. Miller and Perkins never specified they were referring to Francis.

Francis is employed by London Homebuilders, LLC, a Pulaski County-based construction company co-owned by Allen Grant.

Carriage Place was built by the Richmond Development Company, a partnership between Grant and his sister and brother-in-law, Becky and Ed Chenault. Since the zone changes before the Commission this week were to do with their development, Francis excused himself entirely.

All three zone change requests, presented by Lexington-based attorney Preston Worley, were approved.

The first zone change was from R-1 to R-3, or larger family homes and plots to mixed residential density. Worley said this will allow for an assisted living facility to be built along the Gibson Bay golf course that the land adjoins.

Miller objected to the zone change, saying it was incompatible with the City's Comprehensive Plan, saying "It talks about reflecting surrounding land uses and this does not reflect the R-1 area, putting an R-3 right next to it,” Miller said. “It should be phased in. So if you wanted to put an R-2 there, wanted to put an R-1 there, that’s fine.”  

Worley said he and Miller had already had this conversation outside of meetings more than once, and that they still haven't come to the same conclusion. “I don’t think that makes it not compatible with the Comprehensive Plan because a residential use to a residential use, even though more intense, is a reasonable transition in most cases. That’s actually the most desirable—to go from a residential to a more intense residential than to a commercial or industrial,” Worley said.

Worley added that the Comprehensive Plan favors existing development, and that planned development is different from placing a higher density residential area next to an existing neighborhood with single family housing, Worley said.  

“[Residents] are coming to this development, they see what it will be, they know what it will be, so you’re not changing a neighborhood or the characteristic of a neighborhood,” Worley said. “You’re creating a whole community.”

The zone change passed in a 3-2 roll call vote with Miller and Perkins dissenting and Miller a no-vote.

The other two zone changes approved were for two parcels totaling about 70 acres intended for the build-out of Carriage Place. The parcels went from Agriculture to R-1C, single family residential.

Development for Carriage Place began approximately three years ago. There is no projected completion date, Director of Planning and Zoning Kevin Causey told The Edge in an interview after the meeting.

Ordinance

The Commission also unanimously passed an Ordinance regulating compatibility standards for manufactured homes within residential neighborhoods, per a new state law intended to address the state's housing shortage. The Ordinance will take effect after adoption by the City Commission.

The Kentucky Legislature passed a law allowing "qualified manufactured homes", which includes modular homes, in all residential neighborhoods. Manufactured structures are often far less expensive than stick-built homes, and can be completed in less time, according to industry trade associations. Because it's a state law, Richmond must comply by allowing their construction in all residential areas, except where previously existing home owner association bylaws forbid manufactured dwellings.

Madison multi-use trails

The Madison Multi-use Trails Alliance representing Berea, Richmond, and the County, wants to create more multi-use trails connecting Richmond to Berea’s 20 miles of multi-use trail system.

Alliance president Beth Jenkins told the Commission in a presentation that these trails would connect Lexington Road, East Main Street, and Irvine Road with trails across the City. The trails would also connect to the Regional Sports Complex, EKU, and Lake Reba Park. The trails, which the Alliance envisions would run through the industrial parks, would facilitate the potential for people to bike to work, according to Jenkins.

"That trail linkage would be very important and vital to our community," Jenkins said. "The idea is, let's create connectivity to where people want to go." This might include shopping, work, and recreational facilities, according to Jenkins.

"Our group is really excited about the Comprehensive Plan that was ratified this year," Jenkins said. "It includes a lot of really good language, really good vision for what we want to be as a community.

The Alliance, which has received a combination of state and nonprofit funding from the Bluegrass Community Foundation for the project, could need funding from the City in the future, according to Jenkins, but there are provisions in the Comprehensive Plan that allow builders to choose to build multis trails instead of sidewalks or green spaces. "That's where we really need to work through the new opportunities as new development occurs," Jenkins said.

The Alliance is asking the public to complete a survey about what they would like to see the three jurisdictions in the County do with multi-use trails.

Planning director’s report

Planning and Zoning permit applications can now be submitted online, although roadside sale permits will take longer to add now that a problem with their legality has been identified, Causey told the Commission.

Causey said he'd recently discovered that the current permitting ordinance only allows for roadside sales in B-3, highway business district zones, even though most roadside sales occur in B-4, planned shopping center district zones such as the Richmond Mall, Carriage Gate Shopping Center, University Shopping Center, and the Peddler’s Mall.   

"There are some roadside sales activities that are occurring in the wrong zones,” Causey told The Edge after the meeting. “I just want to address if [roadside sales] will be allowed or considered in the B-4 zones, which these are predominantly being done in. So I’m just trying to remedy a problem.”

The Planning and Commission will amend the ordinance to include B-4 zones in the areas where roadside sales are allowed. Blasting permits also will soon be available online.

Jemi Chew also contributed to this report.
This story was updated to reflect the correct vote ratio on the zone change from R-1 to R-3.