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Developer again seeks OK for Oldham subdivision
Quail Creek project blocked twice before

By Andrea Uhde
The Courier-Journal

For a third time, a Louisville developer is trying to win approval to build a subdivision at the southeast corner of Interstate 71 and Ky. 393 in Oldham County.

Pinnacle Properties of Louisville LLC intends to return to the Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday with the same plans for Quail Creek, which the commission rejected in October. The proposal envisions 116 patio homes and 147 houses on about 154 acres between Buckner and Centerfield.

But Pinnacle goes into this meeting after winning Fiscal Court approval of the rezoning in January, and has agreed to delay seeking building permits for homes until the state completes planned improvements to Ky. 393 south of I-71.

Quail Creek — across the interstate from the planned site of Buckner Crossings, a 496-home development that also will include retail and office space — has sparked concern about traffic and drainage from nearby residents.

“You can’t pave something and tell me there’s not going to be more runoff,” said Danny Meredith, who said he has dealt with four or five major floods in his yard, near Curry’s Fork, since 1997.

The planning commission first rejected plans for Quail Creek in February 2005 when it called for 368 homes. The developer returned in October with revisions, and the commission in an unusual move endorsed rezoning but did not approve the preliminary plan because of concerns that included traffic.

Fiscal Court voted 7-1 in January to approve the rezoning, but the commission still must approve the preliminary plans before anything can be built.

Bill Bardenwerper, the developer’s lawyer, said he hopes the favorable comments made by Fiscal Court magistrates will influence the commission’s decision.

As for the Ky. 393 work, Bardenwerper said, the state is “supposed to start on it any time.”

The plan has about 30 more units than the previous zoning allowed and would increase the conservation space from 37 acres to 50 acres.

The plan also calls for on-site basins that can handle 10 percent more runoff than required.

Pinnacle Properties also has offered to add a traffic light at the intersection of Ky. 393 and either Elder Park Road or Briar Ridge Road.

Some residents fear the traffic impact.

Traffic “is gonna be a pain,” said Meredith, who uses Ky. 393 to leave his neighborhood. “I’ve sat there several times for a long time.”

Despite his qualms, he said he doesn’t plan to be at Tuesday’s meeting.

“I gave up,” he said. “I don’t know if anybody else will.”