Bigger really is better when it comes to residential developments along Bowling Green’s Cemetery Road.

At Thursday night’s City-County Planning Commission of Warren County meeting, a gated subdivision planned for 7017 Cemetery Road (roughly seven miles from U.S. 31-W By-Pass) was approved in an 8-0 vote for an amendment to the binding elements that allows the development to grow from 45 lots to 68.

In the only other action at the meeting in the Bowling Green City Commission chambers, partners Tommy Kelley, Cecilia Moses and Louise Huddleston won approval for rezoning property between Cemetery Road and Mt. Victor Lane that will allow for development of six single-family lots instead of the five that were the maximum under the previous zoning.

James Cook, developer of the 83.4-acre gated subdivision, said the amendment to the binding elements was needed to enlarge the development on the property owned by Rodney Dean Veitschegger Jr. Even with increasing the subdivision to 68 lots, the development’s density of 0.81 dwelling units per acre fits within the low density residential designation the property has on the Future Land Use Map.

Cook said homes in the development will have 2,600 to 3,000 square feet of living space. He expects them to sell for about $140 per square foot, meaning they will carry a price tag of $360,000 or more.

With lot sizes averaging about 1.2 acres, Cook said the development fits today’s preference for smaller lots.

“Nobody wants to maintain two or three acres anymore,” he said.

Cook said he will need to submit a detailed development plan for approval by the planning commission before starting to build homes.

“I expect we’ll start in early spring,” he said.

The 5.14-acre development between Cemetery Road and Mt. Victor Lane will be similar in price to the gated subdivision. The rezoning from R-E (residential estate) to RS-1A (single family residential) allows for six lots to be developed. The R-E zoning restricts the development to a minimum of one acre.

Kelley expects the six lots to sell for $130,000 or so each, meaning the finished homes would carry a price tag of $400,000 or so. The development’s binding elements call for each residence to have at least 2,400 square feet of living space.

The tract was approved for rezoning in an 8-0 vote (with commission members Eric Madison, Albert Rich and Doug Martens absent), but that rezoning still must be approved by Warren County Fiscal Court.

Thursday’s one rezoning application was the 72nd heard by the planning commission this year, topping the record of 69 set last year.