The Oldham County Comprehensive Plan: Outlook 2020 by Design
The Oldham County Planning and Zoning Commission staff began revising the county's 1992 Comprehensive Plan in May 1999.
Click here to view and download the final draft of the Comprehensive Plan in PDF format, dated February 26, 2002. or visit the Oldham County website (www.oldhamcounty.net) to download the PDF version of the document.
General Information
The Oldham County Comprehensive Plan is an official document adopted by the Oldham County Planning and Zoning Commission and Oldham County Fiscal Court. Its purpose, as prescribed by Kentucky Revised Statute 100.183 is to serve as a guide for public and private actions and decisions concerning the physical development of the community.
In short, the Comprehensive Plan is generally regarded as the cornerstone document for a county with respect to shaping the future and ensuring a high quality of life for its citizens.
The intent of the plan is to inform the community as to the long-term growth trends that can be expected, provide analysis of alternative plans or patterns for development, and establish clear direction and guidance for locating and guiding growth into appropriate areas.
The Comprehensive Plan is the result of a cooperative governmental and citizens effort to focus on the County’s future. It is a guide for public officials and citizens who will lead the County into the initial decades of the 21st century.
The Comprehensive Plan outlines a framework for consistent future decision-making. If respected and followed, the plan will help to balance the many needs and desires of the community while protecting the resources that make Oldham special place to live, work and visit.
The Comprehensive
Plan charts a path for Oldham County that is well reasoned and feasible. It also gives the citizens of Oldham County an active role in
planning and provides strong reason to believe that change can lead to a
desirable future.
Purpose
and Definition
As an official public document adopted by
the Oldham County Fiscal Court, the plan is a long-range guide for growth, land
use and development decisions in the County. It is also a guide for other
decisions that are related to growth and development and will help the County to
determine when and where new public facilities and improvements are needed.
This plan is general because the
recommendations are broad and usually not site specific.
The plan is long-range because it outlines a vision of what the County
should be like in 50 years and how the
framework for that vision should be established over the next 20 years.
The plan for the County is important since it is based on very
broad community beliefs about what is important and
what the community should be. This
is the basic framework for future planning and should not change with
each election or incremental development decision.
The majority of the Comprehensive Plan
policies focuses on the next 20 years and provides guidance for development
decisions. These policies can be
amended as new information is available, or to address a change in
circumstances, without straying from the basic goals of the plan.
Therefore, the Comprehensive Plan is not a static document and can be
changed if deemed appropriate. In
fact, the Commonwealth of Kentucky requires that comprehensive plans be reviewed
at least every five years.
Although the Comprehensive Plan sets the
policy that guides land use decisions, it is not a development ordinance.
The Comprehensive Plan sets the framework and basis for the County’s
Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision Ordinance, which regulate land use,
subdivision, and site development. The
plan provides citizens’ and government intent with respect to the vision of
the county, long-range goals, general policy,
and specific goals and objectives to implement the plan to serve as a
guide for decision makers and citizens alike.
The plan will also serve as the basis for amendments to the Zoning
Ordinance and Subdivision Ordinance to ensure that the County’s goals are
implemented through the regulatory process.