Plan to build hundreds of homes north of Lexington advances

The plan to build about 450 homes off U.S. 25 in Georgetown will be in the hands of the Georgetown City Council next month.

The Georgetown City Council held a first reading of a zone change ordinance that would allow for about 100 acres of farmland to transform into a sizable subdivision.

The subdivision, planned to be developed by the Lexington-based real estate company HSC Ventures, would be located off U.S. 25 near Royal Spring Middle and Anne Mason Elementary schools.

The subdivision would consist of about 450 single-family homes. Preliminary costs for the homes would be in the $165,000 to $350,000 range.

Also included in the zone change, but not counted as apart of the subdivision, is about 18 acres of greenspace.

The proposal to build the hundreds of homes was set into motion earlier this month when the Georgetown-Scott County Planning Commission recommended the zone change, despite several concerns that the subdivision would create more traffic on an already heavily traveled road.

Despite the city council not holding a vote, a few Scott County residents reiterated those traffic concerns during Monday’s meeting.

U.S. 25, a federally-owned, but state-maintained road, has been the site of numerous accidents in Scott County. In September 2016, a woman was killed in a crash involving two garbage trucks. Earlier this year in March, there was an accident between a garbage truck and Scott County school bus.

James “Al” Mullannix, who called the road a deathtrap at the early November planning commission meeting, was present at the Monday council meeting and doubled down on those comments.

“Our main concern is safety,” he said. “This is a deathtrap happening on (U.S.) 25.”

Nathan Billings, a Lexington attorney who represents HSC Ventures, said the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet would require HSC Ventures to make changes to the road before construction could begin, such as additional lanes in the area near the subdivision.

Billings also noted that the increased traffic impact wouldn’t be immediate because it would take time for the houses to be sold and there was a possibility that fewer homes could end up being built if homes with larger lot sizes are popular.

“We want to provide a product that’s not the same cookie-cutter house all across the board,” he said.

A vote on the zone change is expected to be held on Dec. 11. If approved, HSC Ventures will have to come back to the planning commission to present its finalized construction plans.

This story was originally published November 27, 2017 at 10:05 PM with the headline "Plan to build hundreds of homes north of Lexington advances."