BY VICTORIA DEMPSEY
Era staff writer

LA GRANGE - Oldham County Planning and Zoning administrator Jim Urban announced the release of the Countryside Exchange Team final report at the planning and zoning commission last Tuesday.

The 40-page document recommends strategies for long range planning, and coping with growth in Oldham County.

It is the result of a week long visit and a series of community meetings held in November 1999, with an organized group of planning, development, and environmental experts.

The visit was sponsored by a citizens group from the north Oldham area. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that the county population will double between 1990 and 2020, from 30,608 to 60,875, according to the report.

The team offered a broad range of strategies based on preserving and nurturing what they identified as the major landscape types in Oldham: natural, rural, town, and suburban. "The current development pattern is diminishing not only the scenic beauty of the county, but also the livability...for current and future generations," the report said. "Actions must be taken to change the current patterns...and to protect and enhance the county's landscape assets.

"This will require tough decisions on the part of fiscal court, planning and zoning, and the citizens of Oldham County," the report continued. Planning and Zoning administrator Jim Urban told the commission he has recommended hiring a new employee for his department to fiscal court.

The "county long-range planner" would be a full-time employee with a focus on the county comprehensive land use plan, and updating several regulations and ordinances to accommodate growth, he said. The comprehensive plan revision is supposed to be complete by spring of 2000, officials said. Urban anticipates a new position would cost the county about $40,000 a year, he said.