Prologis seeks annexation of Yoakam tract for large warehouse; neighbors and HOA oppose

Shepherdsville City Council on Monday read an ordinance declaring the city’s intent to annex 25.853 acres owned by Dorothy C. Yoakam on Cedar Grove Road and referred the parcel to the Bullitt County Joint Planning Commission for a zoning recommendation.

The reading set in motion a multi-step process that could lead to rezoning and annexation; councilors did not adopt final annexation or zoning tonight and scheduled the next public action for the council's June 23 meeting. The referral means the planning commission will hold a rezoning hearing before the council considers final ordinances.

Why it matters: The proposed annexation is tied to a commercial proposal by logistics developer Prologis that neighbors say would place a large, 24/7 distribution facility within a few hundred feet of existing yards in the Cedar Place and Lick Skillet neighborhoods. Opponents cited noise, lighting, truck traffic, stormwater runoff, blasting risk and potential property-value loss. Developers said they reduced the project footprint in response to community feedback and offered to convey acreage as a buffer.

Prologis representatives said the plan presented Monday is smaller than earlier versions. Eric Farris, representing Prologis, said the developer removed a second building from the plan and reduced the larger building's footprint by about 330,000 square feet from earlier proposals. "We reduced the building to 517,440 square feet and increased the buffer area to about 22 and a half acres," Farris said. He described a proposed conservation buffer and a five- to eight-foot landscape berm between parking and the nearest homes.

Dorothy C. Yoakam, the property owner identified in the ordinance, has agreed to sell the parcel; her son, Steve Yoakam, told the council the family had owned and farmed the land for decades and said they sought an outcome they believed would benefit neighbors and the city. "They're willing to give up 22 of the acres for a buffer," Steve Yoakam said, describing the conveyance as an effort to preserve a tree line and creek as a protective collar.

Neighbors and homeowners associations urged the council to reject the proposal. Mike Mather, president of the Cedar Place Homeowners Association, said the HOA and Lick Skillet residents unanimously opposed the project. "Gifting the land does not solve the problem created by the existence of a 517,000-square-foot building within a few hundred feet of the back of some of our yards," Mather said, summarizing concerns raised in an HOA meeting where roughly 35 people attended.

Several residents described past and continuing problems they attribute to nearby development. Jason Overstreet, a Lick Skillet resident, described repeated flooding and said he had seen what increased impervious surface can do in heavy storms. "If you prevent the water from going into the ground, it's gotta go somewhere," Overstreet said, urging councilors to require a larger separation between truck-intensive facilities and homes.

Emma Alcorn, vice president of the Cedar Place HOA, said the proposed building's height, truck bays and round-the-clock operations would create intolerable light and noise impacts for families living immediately behind the site. "No amount of berms or trees are gonna eliminate the noise and the light and the view of the building from the neighbors there," Alcorn said.

Prologis and its consultants addressed technical and mitigation issues. Nima Mammoudi, an engineer working with the developer, said the firm would design stormwater controls for the site and reviewed a geotechnical study the developer has commissioned. "We will analyze Lick Skillet Creek to Cedar Grove to ensure there is no harm being provided to any neighbor in that area," Mammoudi said, adding that mitigation design cannot be completed until final site engineering is under way.

Developers also highlighted potential fiscal benefits. Farris presented a summary of tax revenue from Prologis properties already in Shepherdsville and said the company's existing presence generated hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in city receipts and millions for schools and county entities.

What happens next: The council's reading recorded the city's intent to annex and referred the matter to the Bullitt County Joint Planning Commission for a zoning recommendation. If the planning commission recommends a zoning change, the council would then consider separate ordinances to rezone and to annex; those measures would require votes at future meetings. The mayor and council reminded the audience that the next public hearing on the matter is scheduled for the council meeting on June 23 at 6:00 p.m.

The council's reading and the extended public comment period underscored that the proposal has strong local opposition and will proceed through formal county and city review rather than be decided immediately.