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Residents urge more geotechnical review before county considers 722-acre business-park land-use change
Summary
Public commenters on July 14 told the Madison County Fiscal Court the geotechnical report for a planned Central Kentucky Business Park purchase shows sinkholes and highly weathered limestone and urged a CREST survey and a work session with the geotech firm before the planning and zoning hearing July 21.
At the July 14 public comment period, Mary Lois Kearns and Mary McMahan pressed the Fiscal Court for more technical review and transparency about the county's proposed purchase of roughly 722 acres on Lexington Road for the Central Kentucky Business Park Authority.
Kearns cited a geotechnical report prepared in October 2025 that, she said, recommends additional testing and flags local geologic features such as sinkholes and highly weathered limestone. She read passages noting the Ashlock and Drake's formations, sinkhole mapping within the site and recommended remediation or a CREST survey before construction. "I think we need to think is this a practical and viable venture?" Kearns asked, noting the report recommends special foundation measures and removal of problematic soils in some borings.
Kearns also asked for clarification on acreage and purchase price; the judge said a survey showed just over 722 acres and the earlier per-acre figure discussed was $26,250, which the judge said leads to a purchase price of a little under $19 million after survey adjustments. Kearns requested the county convene a work session that would include incoming fiscal court members, representatives of the Central Kentucky Business Park Authority and the Patriot Group (the geotechnical firm) to review the GeoTech analysis before the planning and zoning hearing scheduled for July 21.
Mary McMahan added that the state lists more than 4,100 acres of build-ready sites and asked why the county needs another large site; she asked for the final survey and a list of officers for the Central Kentucky Business Park Authority and requested that incoming fiscal court members be included in briefings during the transition.
Why it matters: commenters raised potential long-term construction, remediation and cost implications tied to subsurface conditions, and they asked the court to pause or fully vet geotechnical findings before the land-use decision proceeds to planning and zoning.
Next step: planning and zoning is scheduled to take up the application on July 21; residents requested a county-led technical work session and additional documentation prior to that hearing.
