The Elizabethtown City Council met for their second meeting of the month Tuesday.
The first reading was held on an ordinance that would amend the zoning of 310 College Street. The original ordinance changed the zoning from Urban Residential (R-4) to Neighborhood Commercial (C-2), but prior to the reading Council Member Marty Fulkerson motioned to change the intended zoning from C-2 to Neighborhood Office (C-1) in order to limit potential uses for the property.
“The C-1 zone restricts buildings adjacent to residential areas to no more than 5,000 square feet in size, and it allows only 13 permitted commercial uses, which again I believe is more compatible with the adjacent neighborhood,” Fulkerson said.
Fulkerson said he understood how citizens were frustrated with the zoning process, but the city’s zoning staff and the city’s Planning Commission have worked within established state statutes.
“The process we want, and each and every one of us want, is as fair as it can be,” Fulkerson said. “It’s not always perfect, and we understand that, but we need to be fair.”
Elizabethtown resident Brad Luebbert said he and other college street residents presented the council with a petition asking them to still vote no on the zoning change.
“We do not want commercial,” Luebbert said. “The main reason we’re worried about encroachment is there’s a house next to Brown Funeral Home currently that was voted for residential/commercial. He’s already making complaints and that’s not a good idea, and he came and spoke the other day. We’re worried about what’s going to happen for the next business and then the next business.”
The council approved a motion from Fulkerson directing city staff to review the city’s historic preservation regulations, including potentially extending the Downtown Historic District to include College Street, and to publish a detailed listing of the steps in the zoning change process. The council also approved a motion from Council Member Julia Springsteen requesting the city review extending the radius for addresses notified of zoning changes.
In other meeting news, the council approved a municipal order that extended industrial development incentives for Kentucky Whiskey House Venture LLC following the completion of construction on their facility and the creation of 50 new jobs.
The Elizabethtown City Council will next meet January 27.
