Plans for new development including a home improvement, grocery and liquor store in Buckner were given the green light at the recent Oldham County Planning and Zoning Commission meeting June 23.
The nearly 30-acre development dubbed “Buckner Commons” is planned for an entirely undeveloped plot of land at the corner of Commerce Parkway and Highway 393 across from the Buckner Kroger.
The home improvement store is expected to be over 101,000 square feet with 358 parking spots — the exact minimum amount allowed.
The grocery store and attached liquor store are planned to have a combined square footage of nearly 59,000 and will share 296 parking spots — two less than the maximum amount allowed.
The development, presented by Prime Property Development Co., also includes six smaller parcels — ranging from 1 to just over 2 acres in size — for smaller commercial stores or offices that will sit closer to Highway 393 and Commerce Parkway.
When asked directly, the applicant said they could not disclose which retailers have committed to be end-users of the project.
The developers “would like to” start site work on the project nearing the end of this year and “both of the two main retailers would like to be open in [the first quarter] of 2028,” said Justin R. Phelps of Prime Property Development Co.
The plans are part of a more than 50-acre development named “Buckner Crossings” that expects to include residential development situated behind smaller commercial development along Commerce Parkway.
According to Oldham County Planning and Development, the commission originally approved the “Master Plan” for Buckner Crossings — which stretches as far northeast as Interior Way, as far south as I-71, and as far north as the Highway 393 railroad crossing near Old La Grange Road — in an 11-1 vote in January 2006.
Three months later, the Oldham County Fiscal Court approved a zoning change for the property to Planned Unit Development, or “PUD,” in a near-unanimous vote with only one abstention.
“This PUD was looked at as a regional and local marketplace for goods and services,” said Louisville attorney Johnathan L. Baker about the development’s master plan. “… We know the south side is activated and has more work to do currently with the Kroger, McDonald’s, a bank and a Starbucks.
“We’re looking to provide more goods and services for not only the residents that live in the area, but across 393 and west of 393, [where] we’re starting to get an increase in job sources,” he said.
“Eventually this will be built out so that folks can come and go without relying on a vehicle every time they want to go and get goods and services,” Baker later continued, referring to the planned residential development.
“We will have bike parking on the site plan, there will be pedestrian connections [and] we will have a connection both vehicular and pedestrian from our commercial center to the … residential component ...”
According to Oldham County Planning and Development, the traffic generated from the home improvement and grocery store site is greater than 100 peak hour trips onto Commerce Parkway, which has an average daily trips of 2,000.
“That’s why it’s here before you all right now — that traffic generation number,” Planner I John Hine told the commission, adding that the site is planned to have access from both the existing traffic light on Commerce Parkway and from Highway 393.
County Engineer Jim Silliman said that the applicant will be required to obtain a stormwater management and erosion control plan from his office, but also mentioned the nearby road improvement project:
“I think the biggest question here is traffic impact … this is going to be significantly impacted by the realignment of 393 as shown on the plans,” Silliman said.
Baker said that the developers and engineers associated with the project have met with the contractors who were awarded the bids for the Highway 393 realignment and railroad underpass construction “and they are going to be coordinating together …”
Commissioner Berry Hampton questioned the timelines, and the project’s engineer, Derek Triplett, explained that the development is expected to be fully complete before the realignment and railroad underpass are finished.
“Forgive my skepticism as far as this getting finished by 2028 [or] 2029 — what’s going to happen if it’s not? … Just for your information, they’ve been talking about this [underpass] since the 80s, and it supposedly was going to start about six times,” Hampton said.
“I am concerned about this construction going on while the realignment is going on also,” he later continued. “I see a disaster in the making there.”
“What’s beneficial in our coordination is that a lot of that coordination has happened firsthand with the contractor associated with [the Highway 393 project],” Triplett replied.
After a motion to approve the development plan was made by Commissioner Iva Davis and seconded by Commissioner Tom Elder, the plans were approved by a 10-1 vote.
“I’m going to vote no because of just the timing,” Hampton said as he cast his vote. “I like the development a lot, but I think it’s unrealistic — the proposed construction dates — and I just can’t support it at this time.”
Due to the fact the zoning change for the project was already approved in years past, the development plan will not need to acquire further approval from the Oldham County Fiscal Court in its current form.
The approval comes just over 24 hours before the groundbreaking on an industrial warehouse development that includes an additional three lots for smaller, commercial buildings directly across Highway 393.
In other news, the commission unanimously approved a 123-lot preliminary subdivision plan on a nearly 83-acre property located at 3104 and 3112 Cedar Point Road in Buckner.
The part of the property being developed already had residential zoning and thus does not need approval from the Oldham County Fiscal Court. The part of the property with “Conservation District” zoning is not planned to be developed.
The Oldham County Planning and Zoning Commission’s next meeting is scheduled for July 28 at 9 a.m., where the agenda has seven items to be considered for approval — including plans, a zoning change and waivers for The Radcliffe Inn in La Grange.