By CHRIS POYNTER
The Courier-Journal

Kentucky's lush pastures and countryside have been developed at a dizzying pace the last 15 years, according to a national study being released today that ranks the commonwealth third among states threatened by rapid growth.

State and local officials must reform planning laws to provide for "smart growth," according to "The Millennium Planning Survey" by the American Planning Association, based in Washington D.C.                    

The association's report evaluated planning trends from 1982 and 1997 and found that Kentucky is developing its land more rapidly per capita than every state except West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Indiana ranked 24th. (Alaska was not included in the study because its growth data was not available.)

"This should be a wake-up call" for Kentucky, said Steve Austin, president of Bluegrass Tomorrow, a coalition of farmers, business and community leaders in Lexington concerned about development in Central Kentucky.

Timothy Butler, president of the Kentucky chapter of the American Planning Association, agreed.

"There are parts of Kentucky that were once scenic that are no longer, unless you like rolling hills of subdivisions, billboards or industries," said Butler, a Bardstown lawyer who works for several planning commissions in the state. "We know that there is a problem in Kentucky."

And it's a problem that goes beyond quality-of-life issues, Austin said. For example, people who live in densely packed suburban subdivisions use a lot of gas driving to and from work, schools, churches and restaurants.

Sprawl also costs the government -- and, in turn, taxpayers -- by requiring extension of sewer lines and waterlines to accommodate development, as well as police and fire protections, he said. "It's an economic issue as much as an aesthetic one."

The American Planning Association said an average of 47,793 acres of land were developed annually in Kentucky from 1982 to 1997. The average state developed 40,235 acres per year.

Butler said that's evident simply by driving on the outskirts of Louisville.

"Drive out I-71 and picture back 10 to 15 years ago where you didn't see anything," Butler said. "Now there are large developments."

Austin said the same about Lexington.

"Nicholasville Road between Lexington and Nicholasville is a poster child for urban sprawl," Austin said, as is Man o' War Boulevard, which forms a semicircle around Lexington and is packed with dense housing and apartment complexes.

"That's an ideal example of what happens when we use outdated planning methods," he said.

Charles Kavanaugh, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Louisville, said he couldn't comment because he hasn't seen the study. But, he said, he finds it hard to believe that Kentucky is among the most developed states in the nation.

And citing national statistics, Kavanaugh said less than 5 percent of land in America is used for urban or suburban development.

TO ACCURATELY compare the development rates of 49 states, the American Planning Association analyzed development per capita, said association spokesman Denny Johnson. That way, he said, states with small populations, such as Kentucky, were compared fairly with those having large populations, like Florida and California.

In Kentucky in 1982, about a third of an acre was developed for every person living in the state, according to the study. By 1997, that figure had jumped to half an acre per person.

The change of 48.8 percent put Kentucky third nationally, behind West Virginia, with nearly 78 percent change, and Pennsylvania, at about 54 percent.

Butler said when most people think of development and sprawl, they envision coastal or Northern states.

But the survey shows that Kentucky is affected just as much, if not more.

Butler said the growth in Louisville and Lexington has put pressure on surrounding counties. Shelby, Oldham and Bullitt counties, for example, are all experiencing growth.

Doug Wampler, an Oldham County resident and member of Oldham Ahead, a group of citizens concerned about growth, said he and others want to help that community map out a better future while maintaining the quality of life.

"Growth itself is not a bad thing," he said. "It's a matter of being able to balance needs of citizens and the requirement of local government with respect to revenue."

Austin, of Bluegrass Tomorrow, pointed out that there are ways to allow for development while preventing sprawl. For example, he cited Lexington-Fayette County's creation of the nation's first urban services boundary in 1958, which defined areas of the city and county that could be developed.

The move has preserved land, Austin said.

He also said the counties around Lexington -- Bourbon, Woodford, Scott, Madison, Clark and Jessamine -- generally have good planning laws that require at least five acres of land on which to build a house.

SOME PEOPLE have criticized those requirements as elitist, saying only wealthier people can afford to buy land.

Butler said there's nothing wrong with dense neighborhoods, as long as they reflect "smart growth" that incorporates homes, businesses, restaurants and shops. He cited Louisville's Highlands and Cherokee Triangle neighborhoods as examples of "smart growth."

He also praised Norton Commons, the 600-acre "village style" development being constructed in Jefferson and Oldham counties. That project has been compared to the Highlands.

Butler said there are other ways to encourage "smart growth" in Kentucky and noted that a bill proposed in the 2000 legislature by state Rep. Jim Wayne (D-Louisville) would have been a step in the right direction.

The bill, among other things, would have encouraged counties to adopt comprehensive land-planning policies and give planning commissions power to regulate use of land along scenic areas and corridors. It also would have required counties to establish a service area, similar to Lexington's urban services boundary, as a way to rein in growth.

Although he said the bill was killed after opposition from real-estate agents and builders, Wayne said yesterday that he plans to introduce it again in 2002.

"Kentucky is in a real crisis with the changes in our agriculture economy," Wayne said. "Farmers see their farms as places to grow houses instead of tobacco . . . and counties are not equipped to manage the growth."