Warren County’s need for housing ran head-on into rural residents’ desire to preserve some Plano-area bucolic and possibly historically significant acreage Thursday, and the need for housing won.

For now.

The City-County Planning Commission of Warren County, meeting in a Bowling Green City Commission chambers that also included about 20 Plano residents opposed to the plan, approved in a 5-0 vote a rezoning expected to lead to builder Jody Allen developing a 65-unit subdivision on a 71-acre tract at 964 Plano-Rich Pond Road.

That vote came after one member of the commission recused himself because of his financial interest in Allen’s JAB Holdings LLC that now owns the property and after the commissioners heard from eight residents opposed to the plan.

Christiaan Volkert, one of four Warren Fiscal Court appointees on the commission, recused himself from the public hearing on the rezoning and didn’t vote. Kentucky Secretary of State records show Volkert listed as an officer along with Allen in JAB Holdings.

Despite Volkert’s absence, the 12-member body still had a quorum because planning commission rules instituted in 2021 give the county’s small cities of Oakland, Plum Springs, Smiths Grove and Woodburn a vote only in developments in and near their incorporated areas.

Commissioners Tim Graham, Dean Warren, Amy Drane, Dharmi Shah and Rick Starks voted to approve rezoning the property from agriculture to residential estate. The vote came quickly after a lengthy hearing in which the Plano residents made their opposition abundantly clear.

Bob Davenport, who lives on Plano-Rich Pond Road near the proposed development, presented a petition opposing the housing plan that was signed by more than 120 residents of the Plano community and brought up concerns ranging from safety along a narrow, curvy road to possible harm to the property’s karst terrain.

“This proposal is a bad, ill-conceived plan for a number of reasons,” Davenport said. “The short-term and long-term effects would be detrimental to the safety of our residents in the community and environmentally unsound.”

Davenport and other speakers voiced their opposition to developing the property that JAB Holdings purchased in March for $1.1 million from Charles Deweese Construction as part of that company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

“The only person in Plano that I know is excited about this development is the owner of the Plano Store, because it could mean more business,” Davenport said.

Plano residents Phillip Carter and Diana Hankla were among those speaking against the development, citing their fears about water adequacy, the dangers of the narrow road and possible harm done by putting in 65 septic tanks in the karst area.

“The whole area is full of sinkholes and caves,” Hankla said.

Chris Davenport, attorney for JAB Holdings, pointed out that the development plan that calls for houses of at least 1,600 square feet also includes a provision that the developer widen a section of Plano-Rich Pond Road from 16 feet to 18 feet.

Addressing the concerns about sinkholes on the property, engineer Rodney McGaughey said: “Any existing sinkhole will have to be mitigated, according to subdivision regulations.”

Those assurances, though, don’t address another issue brought up by both Bob Davenport and Plano resident Adriana Cartwright.

Davenport said a natural cave on the property was apparently inhabited by Native Americans centuries ago.

“Hundreds of arrowheads and artifacts have been found in the vicinity, and there are Indian burial grounds nearby,” he said.

Cartwright, an associate professor of art and design at Western Kentucky University, pointed out that building on the property could violate the Kentucky Antiquities Act, a 1962 law that makes it public policy to preserve archaeological sites and objects of antiquity and to limit archaeological work (exploration, excavation, and collection) to qualified persons and institutions.

“This is a remarkable area,” Cartwright said. “It seems to have been a major civilization. There needs to be an archaeological survey done.”

Despite the planning commission outcome, Cartwright was encouraged that so many of her neighbors turned out for Thursday’s meeting.

“In a sense, I feel that it’s uplifting to know that our community is interested in preserving the area and its character,” she said. “I hope we can find a middle ground.”

Bob Davenport, though, isn’t interested in a middle ground.

Although the planning commission approved the rezoning, it still must get final approval from Warren Fiscal Court, and Davenport aims to make his case to the magistrates that the proposed development should be voted down.

“Our objections to the planning commission fell on deaf ears, which is the usual case,” Davenport said in an email. “Unfortunately, there is a perception among our citizenry that planning and zoning is a rigged system with favoritism always to developers and builders.”

Davenport and the other Plano residents were exchanging email addresses and phone numbers after Thursday’s meeting, planning to continue their battle against what they see as a bad development plan.

“We plan on fighting this in every possible way,” Davenport said.