Planning commission recommends several rezones; council discusses tiny-home and manufactured-home rules

Radcliff planning staff told the City Council on June 9 that the Planning Commission recommended approval of multiple zone-map amendment requests and summarized broader housing-policy issues including tiny homes and newly enacted state rules on manufactured homes.

Planning staff (identified in the meeting as Murray) summarized four applications that were considered by the Planning Commission the prior week. Three applications from the same applicant, John Hoobry, sought rezoning in Dogwood Manor: Lot 14 (a split zone currently R7/R4) to R4, Lot 15 from R7 to R4, and Lot 16 from R7 to R4. The Planning Commission recommended approval of all three requests; staff said the applicant indicated at the public hearing an intent to provide lower-cost housing for veterans and that the applicant is a veteran and a disabled veteran, according to the public-hearing remarks recorded by staff.

A separate application from David and Michael Gray for 699 Blackjack Road sought to rezone 22.65 acres (20.22 acres zoned Residential Holding and 2.43 acres zoned R2) to all R2. Planning staff said the commission recommended approval of that map amendment as well; staff advised the council that Residential Holding is a transitional zone intended for undeveloped land awaiting future residential zoning.

Planning staff explained the local residential zoning scale: lower numbered residential zones indicate lower density (R2 as low-density single-family) and higher numbers indicate higher density, with R7 permitting mobile homes. Staff also discussed development minimums such as lot-size requirements and building-code standards, and said that tiny homes (defined in the local building code as 400 square feet or less) face constraints in many existing zones because minimum habitable-area requirements exceed tiny-home sizes. Staff said tiny homes could be considered under a planned-unit development (PUD) application, which has a more extensive approval process.

The council discussion also covered manufactured homes. Staff noted that legislation enacted by the Kentucky General Assembly in the most recent session will change how manufactured homes are regulated locally: the cityconditional-use process for manufactured homes will be removed by state law next year and municipalities should expect a new state-level pathway and minimum standards (roof pitch, permanent foundation, underpinnings removed) for permitting manufactured homes. Planning staff said that change could improve affordability by making newer manufactured homes easier to place in municipalities.

Neighbors raised at least one objection during the public hearing for the Gray application; the planning staff told the council that the commission weighed the neighborhood context and said almost all adjacent parcels already are R2, so the commission considered rezoning to R2 a reasonable recommendation. The staff presentation and the Planning Commissionrecommendations were forwarded to the council for final action; no final rezoning vote appears in the June 9 transcript.

Planning staff also urged residents to consider serving on the Planning Commission, noting two current vacancies.

Context: The discussion mixed specific land-use cases and broader policy questions (tiny-home viability, manufactured home statutory changes) and flagged items that will return to the council for final action.