Spencer County Fiscal Court denies 47.94-acre Whitfield Lane rezoning over road-safety concerns

Spencer County Fiscal Court on Feb. 5 denied a rezoning request for 47.94 acres on Whitfield Lane, rejecting a developer plan to rezone land from Ag-1 to R-1 because of road-safety concerns and infrastructure questions.

Mrs. Julie Sweazy, reading Planning and Zoning’s minutes, said the commission recommended denial ‘‘because it was not in compliance with the Comprehensive Plan’’ and noted the developer’s engineering report flagged 15 curves and differing vehicle-per-day figures (the developer’s firm reported 400 vpd while Kentucky Transportation Cabinet figures ranged from 800 to 1,200). ‘‘The developer himself acknowledges that the road is dangerous,’’ Sweazy read from the record.

Esq. Stump moved to deny the application on the Planning and Zoning recommendation; Esq. Pharris seconded. On a roll call the judge recorded: Judge Scott Travis — yes; Esq. Travis — abstain (declared he had toured the site and sought to be transparent about that contact); Esq. Cotton — no; Esq. Stump — yes; Esq. Pharris — yes; Esq. Eldridge — no. County counsel advised that the abstention counts with the majority; the motion to deny carried.

The discussion that preceded and followed the vote centered on public-safety and long-term county costs. Magistrates and the judge debated whether a major development at the end of a narrow, curving county road would force future county investments (road widening, bridgework across Plum Creek) and whether the state or developer would bear those costs. Members cited differing estimates of how many existing homes rely on the same limited access — figures heard in the meeting ranged from about 200 to roughly 300–350 residents — and said additional traffic from a new subdivision could make an already hazardous stretch worse.

During public comment, Michael Morgan told the court that in 2022 the state paid MAGO Paving $122,000 to widen Whitfield Lane and said the work had not been done as he expected; Bobby Smith raised separate zoning concerns, saying many properties along Whitfield Lane had not been administratively updated after prior zoning-code changes and urging the court to correct longstanding discrepancies.

After the denial vote the court approved a separate motion — made by Esq. Stump and seconded by Judge Travis — to waive a one-time reapplication fee should the developer choose to reapply with a revised plan. Court members agreed that a future application would need to address engineering and safety improvements before it could be considered favorably.

What’s next: The denial stands for this application; the developer may reapply and would receive a one-time fee waiver if they do so. Planning and Zoning minutes and engineering reports will remain part of the record for any future filing.