Plano residents give input to planning commission | News

Red was not the color of choice Tuesday night at Plano Elementary School.

The crimson hue was the color of the sticker representing multi-family residential development in an exercise City-County Planning Commission Executive Director Ben Peterson cooked up to help the 60 or so residents of the Plano community at a public meeting to give input into the future of the Plano Road corridor.

Longtime Plano resident Tim Denton summed up the feelings of many in the crowd when he stood up mid-meeting and proclaimed: “I’m adamantly opposed to any multi-family developments in the Plano area.”

Denton’s pronouncement prompted the type of raucous applause you might expect from fans at a Hilltopper football game.

It was obvious during Peterson’s presentation and the stickers-on-a-map exercise that followed that the locals were seeing red at the very mention of apartment complexes or any other type of high-density development along the Plano Road corridor from Scottsville Road to Ky. 240.

As idle earth-moving equipment preparing the ground for the 12-acre, 30-lot Kingston Pointe subdivision across Plano Road from the school stood as a reminder that the area is a prime target for developers, Peterson and his staff shared information about possible future land uses along the corridor and heard concerns from residents.

After sharing information about a Future Land Use Map that projects a decline in agriculture and a rise in residential and commercial developments in the area, Peterson told the residents: “The Future Land Use Map is a general guide of what could be built in the near future. It indicates a major character shift from rural to suburban.”

But, Peterson stressed, the residents have a say in that future. “We can create a plan specific to this community and replace the Future Land Use Map,” he said. “You have the opportunity to help guide a Plano-specific focal-point plan.”

Peterson didn’t have to ask twice for input, as Plano residents like Dave Coldwell were eager to make their feelings known.

“People don’t want apartment complexes all up and down Plano Road,” Coldwell said.

Coldwell said he favors keeping much of the farmland and limiting residential development to subdivisions that comply with the rural density category.

“It only enhances the area if you put in lots of one acre or more with $350,000 homes,” he said. “I don’t have a problem with development. The problem is the density.”

Others had similar concerns.

Kevin Bailey, chief of the Plano Volunteer Fire Department, said he’s concerned that high-density developments may tax the capacity of the fire hydrants in the area. He’s also wary of subdivisions with streets that can’t accommodate firetrucks.

Longtime Plano resident Deborah Harston gave credit to Peterson and his staff for holding meetings such as Tuesday’s, but she expressed her fears for the future of her community.

“I thought the guys here tonight did a great job explaining the process,” she said. “But I just think we’ve had too much growth too fast.

“It’s taking longer and longer to get on the (Natcher) parkway. The parkway interchange was a great thing, but that leads to other developments. I know things have to grow, but it’s sad to see.”

Denton, who has lived in Plano for 25 years, proposed a radical solution: incorporating the Plano community. He asked that those interested in that idea talk to him after the meeting, and he was quickly surrounded by curious residents.

“We’re going to put a committee together and investigate incorporating Plano,” Denton said. “We want to get the county off our backs.”

Denton said he is “just getting started” on looking into incorporation.

Peterson said a follow-up meeting on development of the Plano Road corridor is scheduled for Sept. 26. Many in attendance Tuesday would like to see some elected officials at that meeting.

“They’re not going to be lynched or anything,” Coldwell said.