Planning commission recommends denial of Oak Point Residential rezoning after residents and staff raise traffic, slope and drainage concerns

A special public hearing of the Louisville Metro Planning Commission on the Oak Point Residential rezoning drew neighborhood opposition and a split vote after staff said it lacked enough site-specific geotechnical information to find the proposal compliant with Plan 2040.

Jay Luckett, Office of Planning staff, presented the case (24-ZONE-0003) and described the request as a change from R-4 single-family to PRD (planned residential development) and R-6 multifamily with a detailed district development plan, major preliminary subdivision review and variances. The applicant proposed 16 detached single-family homes, 38 semi-detached townhomes and 368 multifamily dwellings, with the site accessed from Dawn Drive and Myers Lane. Luckett said staff recommended against approval because “I didn’t feel like I had all the information” about unstable soils and steep slopes and therefore could not determine the development could be carried out safely.

The developer and applicant team, represented by Nick Pregliozco of Talbot & Roberts and David Mendel of Mendel Scott (engineering), replied with a multi-part mitigation plan and said two prior geotechnical studies exist: a comprehensive 2003 geotechnical investigation performed for an earlier development concept and a 2024 site reconnaissance that found the slopes currently stable but did not include subsurface borings. Pregliozco told the commission the team had retained additional experts and “we will have a third full geotechnical report done” before permits are issued, and proposed several binding elements including a required geotechnical…