A contested residential development in the Smiths Grove area is moving forward after action taken at the Jan. 16 meeting of the City-County Planning Commission of Warren County.

Trying for a second time and with a reworked development plan, entrepreneur Paul Isenberg won a narrow vote from the planning commission for his plan to rezone from agriculture to single-family residential 34 acres near the intersection of Smiths Grove-Scottsville Road and Glasgow Road and develop the property with a maximum of 100 single-family houses.

Only the four county appointees and the one Smiths Grove appointee were eligible to vote on the application.

After hearing from Isenberg’s representative and from residents living near the proposed development, those commissioners voted 3-2 to approve the rezoning. Amy Drane, Tim Graham and Christiaan Volkert voted yes while Rick Starks and Smiths Grove appointee Debbie Richey voted no.

That vote came after Isenberg’s original application resulted in a 2-2 deadlocked vote in November, when Volkert was absent, and it came after five residents living near the property expressed opposition to a plan they believe will lead to traffic congestion and other problems.

Attorney Mark Alcott, representing Isenberg, portrayed his client’s plan as meeting an urgent need in Warren County for what he called “starter homes”.

Isenberg’s development plan calls for as many as 100 houses (down by 12 from November’s application) of at least 1,250 square feet each. The houses will have two-car attached garages and concrete driveways.

Alcott said the houses should sell in the $250,000 range and meet a need in a county experiencing a shortage of moderately priced houses.

“The housing study done in 2023 says we’re underserved in this type of housing,” he said. “We’re trying to do a development that is high-quality.”

Some residents living near the development didn’t agree.

Donavon Carroll, who lives on Smiths Grove-Scottsville Road, said: “This is going to hurt our property values. I’m not opposed to a subdivision, if it has bigger houses and bigger lots to meet what’s already in that area.”

Roger Thomas, a former state legislator who lives near the development, pointed out that Glasgow Road and Smiths Grove-Scottsville Road serve four local schools and a growing industrial park.

“Two times a day traffic gets backed up in that area,” Thomas said. “This new development will further impact the traffic.”

Three other residents expressed similar reservations about the development, but Alcott pointed out that improvements are planned for the intersection of the two roads.

“This is a logical place to build homes,” he said.

Three of the five commissioners agreed and approved a rezoning that becomes final in 21 days unless it is appealed to Warren Fiscal Court.

Another proposed Smiths Grove-area residential development that had resulted in deadlocked votes last year was tentatively scheduled to heard again at the Jan. 16 meeting but was withdrawn.

That application to rezone property along Hedge Street from agriculture to single-family residential in order to develop a 76-acre, 265-lot subdivision brought out some 30 Smiths Grove residents for a July 2024 meeting during which motions first to deny and then approve the measure ended in 2-2 votes.

Developer Jeremy Riggs brought the application back in September after reducing the size of the development to 55.2 acres and 190 houses of at least 1,250 square feet, but again the commissioners ended in a deadlock.

Those arguing against the development at both meetings cited needed road improvements, safety concerns and the need for improved water and sewer service in the area.

The Riggs development, which was adjacent to a proposed new North Warren Elementary School, is no longer scheduled to be heard by the planning commission.