Hardin County planning office reports rise in plats, building permits and single-family starts in 2024

Adam King, planning director for Hardin County, presented the planning office’s November–December and year-end report at the Jan. 14 Fiscal Court meeting.

King said growth activity in 2024 was largely on par with the two prior years, but several measures rose: the office recorded 125 plats (up from 89 in 2023) and 164 new lots (compared with 81 in 2023). He reported 21 conditional use permits, 23 variances, 14 zone changes and 14 nonresidential development plans for the year.

Permitting figures included 536 building permits (one more than 2023) and 994 electrical permits (down from 1,111 in 2023, which King attributed to Vine Grove assuming responsibility for its own electrical inspections). King said the office permitted 137 new single-family dwellings in 2024 (up from 113 in 2023) with an average reported size of 3,281 square feet and an average reported construction cost above $290,000.

King described several specific cases reviewed during the year: a zone change at 106 Barrytown Road to allow a family farm to be reconfigured among heirs; a seven-lot variance in Sportsman Lake subdivision that cleared the way for a new home overlooking the lake; and a variance for Olive Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Sonora to rebuild the sanctuary within an existing footprint affected by a sinkhole on the property.

King recognized longtime electrical inspector David Beers, who served more than 41 years inspecting homes in Hardin and surrounding counties and who had recently died; magistrates and the judge executive offered brief remembrances.

King concluded by offering to answer questions; no formal action was taken on the planning report during the meeting.