Land Use decisions by the Oldham
County Planning and Zoning Commission and Oldham County Fiscal Court
are important for the citizens of Oldham County with respect to the
pace and quality of future development; infrastructure requirements
and funding; environmental protection; and ultimately property taxes
(see the Board
of Education Facilities Plan ).
During 2007, some prominent Oldham County developers
attempted to influence the selection of Planning Commissioners.
As a result, Oldham Ahead began to record the land use decisions of
Planning Commissioners and Fiscal Court members to provide the
public transparency to the the decision making process within the
county.
In general, Kentucky
laws favor the development community in Planning and Zoning
decisions. For development plans, Commissioners have very
little latitude in their voting if the applicant meets the county's
subdivision regulations and other county and state requirements.
Commissioners have greater discretion in considering rezoning
applications. The Planning and Zoning staff generally works
very closely with developers in reviewing development plans prior to
Planning and Zoning hearings in order to ensure the application
comply with county regulations. As a result, the Planning
Commission approved about 80 percent of rezoning and development
plan applications during 2007.
The Commission approved 67 percent of rezoning applications during
2007. As a body, it displayed concern where rezoning requests
involved proposals to rezoning Conservation-zoned land to
residential--specifically lands that serve as buffers to watersheds
and water bodies. The Commission denied a total of four
rezoning requests during the year, to include high profile requests
in the GlenOaks and Briar Hill subdivisions which involved land
zoned Conservation (CO-1 zoning).
Whereas the Planning Commission relies on a wide body
of evidence to include the application file, maps, and other
technical data, Fiscal Court, in deciding rezoning actions, relies
primarily on the summarized minutes from the Planning Commission
meeting, and the evidence provided during the Fiscal Court hearing
itself. The majority of Planning Commissioners take the time
to review applications in detail and ask reasoned questions with
respect to the application's impact on roads, schools, stormwater
run-off, and sewers. Fiscal Court members have not versed
themselves adequately to address these important issues and
challenge assertions and data from the applicant. They appear
easily persuaded by the applicant's attorneys and have gone on
record in
approving rezoning actions based upon the reputation of the
developer as opposed to relying on the evidence or the
requirements of the Kentucky Revised Statutes.
Fiscal Court members approve the selection of
Planning Commissioners, who serve as the technical citizens' body in
reviewing land use applications. Planning Commissioners
develop expertise by undergoing formal training and from reviewing a
number of applications during their tenure. Given the overall
approval percentage of applications before the Planning Commission,
there generally is a major issue or issues that preclude the
Commission from approving rezoning action or a development plan.
The scorecard from Fiscal Court indicates that the Court is inclined
to support developer's applications regardless of the
recommendations from the Planning Commission and the potential
impacts upon schools, sewers, stormwater, and ultimately tax levels.
During 2007, Fiscal Court approved all six land use
applications that it heard, overturning recommendations by the
Planning Commission in the GlenOaks and Briar Hill cases. Both
of those cases have stormwater management implications, as many
rezoning requests heard in previous years have.
County officials are currently
proposing new
stormwater utility fees to address EPA mandated actions to
mitigate construction related and other stormwater runoff problems
in Oldham County. The collective chorus from the Magistrates
are that these fees are "unfunded mandates" over which they have no
control. Unfortunately the Magistrates have failed to
recognize their land use decisions over the years that have
accelerated growth in land buffering the county's watershed and are
directly responsible for the EPA sanctions. Their 2007
decisions overturning the Planning Commission will further
exacerbate the situation and will have a direct impact upon
both property taxes and stormwater fees. The Scorecards below
will allow county citizens to form their own opinions based on data
collected during 2007.
View the Fiscal Court Scorecard