Danville planning commission denies Newcomb Oil rezoning request for station at Lexington Road intersection

The Danville Planning & Zoning Commission on Nov. 25 denied Newcomb Oil Company LLC’s application to rezone a 4.26‑acre triangular parcel at the intersection of Old Danville Road, Lexington Road and Kentucky Highway 2168 from agricultural to highway business. The applicant had proposed a 5 Star convenience and fueling station at the site.

Mike Sullivan, attorney for Newcomb Oil, told the commission the parcel was created when the connector road was built and is less than the zoning ordinance’s 5‑acre minimum for agricultural classification. He said the parcel has not been farmed for more than a decade and argued residential development was economically infeasible. Sullivan described access plans that would limit left turns and include right‑in/right‑out approaches, lower signage than zoning allows and a 50% increase in required screening trees along neighbors’ property lines.

Dozens of nearby residents, attorneys and local planners urged denial. Melanie Thornberry, a resident and land‑use attorney, said the application "should fail" because it conflicts with the commission’s newly adopted comprehensive plan and future land‑use map, which designate the tract as Garden Neighborhood and prioritize protecting existing neighborhoods. Susan Bloom, who lives on Cardinal Drive, said the lighting and traffic associated with a highway business would "permanently change the nighttime environment of our neighborhood." Neighbors cited pedestrian safety on nearby trails, existing congestion at the Goggin/Lexington intersection, potential groundwater and runoff concerns, and impacts on property values.

Commissioners said they weighed competing goals — economic infill versus safeguarding residential character — and emphasized the recent, lengthy process that produced the 2025 comprehensive plan. In a motion to deny the rezoning, commissioners cited a lack of conformity with the future land‑use map and the commission’s findings that the applicant had not demonstrated the current agricultural classification was inappropriate in a way that would justify highway‑business zoning.

The commission’s denial leaves open the possibility that the applicant may later submit a different application or a development plan under the parcel’s existing zoning; the commission noted mitigation measures such as landscape buffers and turn restrictions could be discussed at the development‑plan stage but said those measures did not demonstrate conformity with the comp plan needed to change the zoning.

The commission closed the public hearing and moved on to administrative business; no appeal or subsequent council action was recorded at the meeting.