The Elizabethtown Planning Commission reviewed several property proposals during their meeting Tuesday evening.
A public hearing was held on a zoning map amendment and conceptual development plan for 707 Saint John Road. Requested by property owner Hanna Yun, the zoning would be changed from R-1 Low-Density Residential to R-6 High-Density Multi-Family Residential and C-3 Regional Commercial.
Elizabethtown City Planner Aaron Hawkins said the submitted conceptual development plan lays out a mixed-use development.
“The applicant is proposing to convert their existing single family house and residence into a clubhouse for the development as well as adding multiple hotel buildings, a commercial strip development, and multi-family buildings,” Hawkins said.
The proposed property would include 114 hotel rooms across four buildings, 126 studio units in a corporate housing unit, and a commercial building with three to five tenants. City planning staff recommended approval contingent on the implementation of screening measures to protect neighboring properties and the installation of a roundabout on Saint John Road at the property’s entrance.
Several nearby residents expressed concerns with the impact the development will have on the neighborhood including noise and light pollution, environmental impacts, and traffic hazards. Celia Thomas, who owns one of the neighboring properties, said she had concerns with the use of prefabricated modular buildings in the design.
“If this were to pass, it would set a precedent for future modular buildings in our beautiful city of Elizabethtown, and I cannot imagine anyone wanting this to happen, and if any of you all lived where I do you would not want this either,” Thomas said.
The planning commission tabled the discussion until their April 22 meeting as one of the area property owners could not be properly contacted ahead of the meeting.
In other meeting news, the commission voted to recommend approval of a zoning map amendment for 475 Hodgenville Road from C-3 to R-6 to accommodate a 288-unit apartment complex. The amended development plan for the Dixie Business Center at 4601 North Dixie Avenue, which accommodates additional business units at the site, was also approved.
