An upscale subdivision along the Cemetery Road corridor and a downtown group home for women battling substance abuse or other issues were both recommended for approval Thursday by the City-County Planning Commission of Warren County.

John Huggins and Kelly Arnold, partners in H & A Development LLC, presented a plan to rezone 27.3594 acres on Hunts Lane near Cemetery Road from agriculture to residential estate in order to develop up to 25 single-family residential lots.

The plan, which Arnold described as a “good quality neighborhood” with what he called an “urban farmhouse” look, was approved by all 11 planning commission members present.

Arnold said the development, which is not on sewer, will have lot sizes of at least one acre and homes of at least 2,100 square feet built with 70 percent brick, stone or other modern masonry materials.

“It will be a nice neighborhood,” Arnold said of the development that still must await approval by Warren County Fiscal Court. “It will have some nice, rolling lots. On that side of town there’s a lack of new development. Most of the development has been on the south side of the county.”

Arnold and Huggins, who own the property and will sell some lots to other builders, estimated the homes would sell for $350,000 or more.

Like Arnold and Huggins, Hope House Ministries Executive Director Bryan Lewis is trying to meet a growing need with the rezoning application he had recommended for approval Thursday.

Hope House, which already operates a group living home for men at 1149 Adams St. and is building a second home for men at 1147 Adams St., was approved for a rezoning at 112 W. 10th Ave. that could lead to building a group home for women.

Lewis said the site is currently home to the Hope House woodshop, office and classroom space, a donation center and a community store. He was approved for rezoning a portion of the property from light industrial to highway business in order to build a two-story, 6,000-square-foot group home that he said will accommodate 18 to 22 women.

Lewis said Hope House operates a 12-month program for men in which they receive treatment and work in the woodshop to gain work skills and pay expenses. The women’s program will be similar, he said.

“It will be women struggling with homelessness and drug and alcohol dependency and women coming out of the penal system or appointed to us by the courts,” he said. “We stay with about a 20-person waiting list in the men’s program, so we expect this to fill up fast as well.”

The Hope House director said he has applied for a Women’s Fund grant and will use donations to build the facility and pay for the day-to-day operations.

Lewis said there is a growing need for such group homes as substance abuse is on the rise.

“They’re using that (substance abuse) to remedy broken lives,” he said. “They’re struggling with what life throws at us. We try to show them that Christ is our only hope. That’s what we’re about.”

The Hope House rezoning was approved unanimously and will go to the Bowling Green City Commission for final approval.

In other action, the planning commission recommended for approval rezoning five acres at 240 W. G. Talley Road near the Allen County line from agriculture to residential estate in order for owners James and Kathleen Goad to develop three residential lots and build homes of at least 1,800 square feet. That rezoning will go to fiscal court for final approval.

An application from Skees Development Group LLC to rezone 28.53 acres located at the end of Skees Road in the Rich Pond community from agriculture to single-family residential was postponed for a second time.

Last week, the Board of Adjustments of Warren County approved variances on that property to change the setback distance from the cellphone tower on the property.

But the application to rezone the property near South Warren High School was postponed until Sept. 20 at the request of Luke Williams of Skees Development Group LLC.

The development plan for the property calls for building 76 homes of at least 1,400 square feet each.