HEBRON, Ky. — There’s no confirmation yet, but the same developer behind the Cold Spring Pointe development, which will include a Publix, is seeking a zone change to make way for The Shoppes at Hebron Pointe.
Last week, the Boone County Planning Commission heard a zone change request from Cincinnati-based Midland Atlantic Properties to change the designation of 53 acres of land from Residential and Commercial to Commercial/Planned Development.
The three properties in question are located at the northeast and northwest corners of the Graves Road and Worldwide Boulevard intersection. The designation change would also affect portions of neighboring properties at 2477 Treetop Lane, 2355 Water Tower Dr. and 2338 Williams Road.
According to Boone County property records, Larry and Christina Barnes, Roy Smith, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and KJCA LLC each own a separate property within the 53-acre development site.
Clayton Riney, a development manager for Midland Atlantic, spoke at the planning commission meeting on behalf of the company. Riney previously represented Midland Atlantic in multiple Cold Spring Planning & Zoning Commission meetings regarding Cold Spring Pointe.
Midland Atlantic’s plans include space for a 50,325-square-foot anchor grocery store and four smaller retail spaces ranging from 22,080 to 3,200 square feet. All five stores will be located directly next to one another. The grocery store’s parking lot will contain 276 parking stalls. Next to the retail stores sits space for a 3,195-square-foot drive-thru restaurant.
To the east sits a carveout for a 5,200-square-foot convenience store. The southwest portion includes space for a proposed 8,400-square-foot retailer and 4,300-square-foot restaurant.
The planning commission presented Riney with a variety of questions related to the orientation of the grocery store, the impact of local traffic caused by the prospective development, and future usage of the restaurant spaces.
Planning commission member Janet Kegley asked if Midland Atlantic considered putting portions of the development closer to Williams Drive instead of further back from the sidewalk.
“One of the things that I brought out in the comprehensive plan is the idea of having the buildings up by the sidewalk,” she said. “This one doesn’t do that. I don’t know if the applicant has thought about trying to do that?”
Additionally, planning commission member Steve Harper asked if the developer had considered flipping the grocery store’s orientation to face away from Williams Road.
Riney responded by saying their client felt it would be more aesthetically pleasing to leave the plan as presented.
“If we were to flip the orientation of the grocery store at the big boxes, you would then be looking at loading docks – all of the back of house would be up on the street,” Riney said. “It would be great to put the grocery store on the street. It functionally doesn’t operate well, and then our particular user had some concerns with going there, so it was kind of twofold: it was with our user’s concerns and just the look and feel of the shopping center we wanted to put orientation that we have.”
Harper agreed with Riney, suggesting that a potential change in orientation could affect the entire development.
“I think having the back of the grocery close to the road would not be ideal for the overall development in general without getting into the details,” Harper said.
Regarding traffic flow, Boone County Zoning Administrator Michael Schwartz said that due to the way the development is laid out, he expects traffic backups to remain internal to the site.
“I think it works and frankly, we will obviously review that more closely as part of a major site plan when it gets to that phase, but any potential backup is going to occur internally to the site, not on any adjacent roadway or any of their major internal access ways,” Schwartz said.
The commission also asked which establishments could occupy the drive-thru restaurant buildings at the development site.
“One biggest question that came up during the public hearing was the drive-thrus, and the fact that we want these users to be oriented toward the residents rather than the highway traveler,” Kegley said.
After the commission discussed it, there seemed to be a consensus that they preferred establishments like Starbucks or Chipotle rather than Burger King or McDonald’s.
This story originally appeared on LINKNKY.com
