Jessamine County planning panel approves rezoning for 14.02-acre multifamily project

The Jessamine County Planning Commission voted unanimously Dec. 17 to approve a map amendment that rezones 14.02 acres of a roughly 19-acre parcel near I‑75 from general business to UC2 multifamily, clearing the way for a multifamily development that the applicant and consultants said is likely in the neighborhood of 176 units.

Jason Taylor, principal of JHV Construction LLC, told the commission he owns the parcel and intends to develop the rezoned portion as multifamily housing with a clubhouse, pool and green-space buffering. "This would be multifamily development," Taylor said while describing the concept plan submitted with the application.

The applicant’s attorney, Preston Wley of Rare Law Firm, and transportation engineer Mark Macintosh of Vision Engineering presented materials to show the proposal’s consistency with the county comprehensive plan and local infrastructure. Wley told the commission the property is in Jessamine County’s urban corridor and that the comprehensive plan’s Goal 5 encourages diverse housing where water, sewer and transportation capacity exist. Macintosh testified the traffic study modeled a roughly 176–180 unit scenario and concluded the site distances and intersection performance meet the state highway traffic manual’s standards today, rating the approach at about a level-of-service C.

The applicant also submitted capacity letters from the county sanitation and utilities authorities. Counsel said a sewer letter from the Northern Jessamine County Sanitation District (Mr. Turner) noted a potential of about 176 units (the raw math could permit up to about 199 units at the maximum density referenced in the application), and a later water-capacity letter from the county utilities district was added to the record.

Resident Trevor Kirkland, who identified himself as living in the Traditions neighborhood, urged commissioners to weigh cumulative traffic and school impacts. "That road is dangerous at times," Kirkland said, pointing to a blind curve near a Dollar General and asking what plans exist for future road upgrades and school capacity if the development adds "maybe 250 extra vehicles" and additional students to local schools. He also said county online materials were hard to find and encouraged greater public engagement.

Planning staff and commissioners responded that multifamily is often less traffic‑intensive than some commercial uses, and noted that this site already has fire protection, sewer and water—factors that the county’s comprehensive plan uses to prioritize residential growth. Staff emphasized that road improvements such as turn lanes would be subject to the state highway authority’s permitting and that any required changes would be addressed during later site-design and permitting stages.

After discussion the commission took a motion and seconded it; the rezoning passed by unanimous roll call. Commissioners’ votes recorded in the hearing were: Mary Offer (yes), Bill Fritz (yes), Shannon Pennington (yes), Billy Bannon (yes), Brian Adams (yes), Bill Claus (yes) and Robert Farmer (yes).

Next steps: the rezoning approval clears the map-amendment phase, but final development details—including the site development plan, any required right-of-way work, state permits for road modifications and the specific number and layout of residential units—will return to the county for subsequent review and approvals. The commission did not set a construction timeline at the meeting.

Votes at a glance

• Adopt 2025 meeting schedule (first and third Tuesdays through June 2025): approved by unanimous roll call.

• Rezoning map amendment for ~14.02 acres to UC2 multifamily: approved by unanimous roll call.