Zoning Commission Approves Anderson-Dean Annexation And Pinehurst Rezoning
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Robert Moore
Herald Staff
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The Harrodsburg-Mercer County Joint Planning and Zoning Commission recommended the City of Harrodsburg proceed with the annexation of Anderson-Dean Community Park.
At their meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 9, the planning and zoning commission held a public hearing on the city’s annexation of more than 217.4 acres at Anderson-Dean, which is located at 1479 Louisville Road. No one spoke at the hearing.
Executive Director Shawn Moore said the city is pursuing the annexation to “open up the possibility of doing other things.”
The city and the Mercer County Fiscal Court, which jointly own the park, have taken steps recently to reorganize the park’s board of directors, naming Mayor Bob Williams and Judge-Executive Sarah Steele to the board. Following the public hearing, the zoning commission voted to recommend the city proceed with the annexation and to approve rezoning for the property to B-2 (Business).
At the request of Jeffrey Brady, the zoning commission conducted a public hearing to consider rezoning four tracts of land totaling more than five acres located on the northern side of Pinehurst Way in Harrodsburg. The property is currently zoned B-3 (Central Business). The proposed new zoning would be R-2 (High Density Residential). The properties are owned by Pinehurst Development 1 LLC, the Harrodsburg Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses and Priorities LLC.
“They really don’t need to be zoned B-3,” said Kendal Wise of Vantage Engineering. He said the properties are too far off the highway.
In 2007, a group of developers tried to develop the property for commercial use, including a possible new home for Kroger.
“The development has been slow to take off,” Wise told the zoning commission. He said it’s finally taking off as a residential development.
There is interest in creating two-bedroom residential properties, Wise said. The new plans for residential development are in line with the future land-use map, Wise said.
Brady, who had yet to purchase the property at the time of the meeting, said he’d built residential units in Lexington. He said the development would be good for entry-level housing. Brady said development in the Lexington-Fayette County area is “creeping down this way.”
No one else spoke at the public hearing. After adjourning the hearing, Moore recommended rezoning the property on contingency. Moore said it agrees with the future land-use map, which calls for high-density residential as required by state law.
“Projected use is well in line with what’s going on in the general vicinity,” Moore said. The zoning commission voted to approve the rezoning. The Harrodsburg City Commission has to approve both the park annexation and the Pinehurst rezoning. Moore said he could get information to the city by Jan. 21, and the city commission could vote on the rezoning by March 1.
“That’s as fast as I can get it done,” Moore told Brady. “That’s as fast as anybody can get it done.”
The rezoning includes a 30-day appeal period.
