Signs announcing a potential zoning change on property next door to Cumberland Ridge subdivision have served their purpose: getting the attention of that area’s residents.

In that upscale subdivision along Cumberland Trace Road, residents are accustomed to looking out their windows at deer and other wildlife that roam near Drakes Creek. Now, with the prospect of the local landscape – and perhaps their property values – changing, those neighbors have banded together in an effort to ensure that a proposed development is made more palatable.

About two dozen members of the Cumberland Ridge Homeowners Association got together Tuesday at the Warren County Public Library’s Bob Kirby Branch to learn more about how the rezoning could affect them and discuss how to respond to a proposed 256-acre development that calls for as many as 330 single-family homes and another 120 multifamily units.

A good number of those residents are expected to show up Thursday night for the City-County Planning Commission of Warren County meeting, where they will try to gain concessions or sway the votes of planning commission members.

The commissioners will consider a plan from local Realtor Luke Williams and the CPR Farms limited liability corporation that also includes a 22.88-acre parcel set aside for a new Cumberland Trace Elementary School.

That school, intended as a replacement for a building that opened in 1969, isn’t the problem. The residential component that is viewed as incompatible with their subdivision is an issue for the Cumberland Ridge residents.

“The most significant issue is compatibility,” said Brian Lowder, an attorney representing the homeowners association.

Lowder said the density of the proposed development is 1.76 dwelling units per acre, which is twice the density of Cumberland Ridge.

In addition, the attorney said the project’s development plan calls for homes of at least 1,800 square feet, much smaller than the typical Cumberland Ridge home.

The increased density, Lowder said, would create traffic problems along with environmental concerns.

“There are several unaddressed issues,” he said. “There’s nothing (in the development plan) about how they’re going to address the floodplain area.”

Lowder said the wildlife and mature trees in the area could be “significantly impacted” by the development unless some concessions are made.

The bottom line could be a negative impact on the Cumberland Ridge homeowners’ bottom lines.

“When you’re adding a significantly more dense development, there’s always a concern about eroding property values,” Lowder said.

Lowder and members of the homeowners’ group will bring such concerns to the planning commission, and they will probably be joined by residents of the Shaker Mill subdivision that also adjoins the proposed development.

Shaker Mill residents are concerned about being connected to the new development through a narrow Shaker Mill Road that is seen as ill-equipped to handle an increase in traffic.

“The school’s fine,” said Shaker Mill resident Steve Owen, who was on hand for Tuesday’s meeting. “We just don’t want to dump another 400 to 500 cars on a road that’s 16 feet wide.”

Owen said he will bring his concerns to the planning commission meeting, which will be at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Bowling Green City Commission chambers on College Street.

– Follow business reporter Don Sergent on Twitter @BGDNbusiness or visit bgdailynews.com.