By Sarah Brookbank
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications
Midway was a hot topic at the Versailles-Midway-Woodford
County Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on Thursday. Three items focused
on Midway Station, the long-planned development north of Interstate 64.
Many changes for Midway Station have been planned over the
years but not much has happened at the site since its development in the 1990s. That might be changing soon, the prospective developer's construction of a
McDonald’s and a Shell station underway on the southeast corner of the
interchange, and there are rumblings of more development to come, such as a Midway Station factory.
The first item on the docket was the rezoning of an area
adjoining Midway Station and Georgetown Road. On Sept. 11 the commission held a
hearing to rezone 37.111 acres from A-1 agricultural and R-3 residential to I-1
light industrial. The area was considered an extension of the already I-1
industrial zoned area that is Midway Station.
The rezoning of the area attached to Midway Station was
recommended without dissent. If approved by the county, it will add 38.22 gross acres to the industrial area
of Midway Station, which is to be a mixed-use development. The commission also approved the initial development plan.
According to the
commission’s findings of fact, the development “will promote the goal of
industrial development by increasing the amount of I-1 land available… [and]
promotes employment by providing additional work place opportunities for
Woodford countians seeking employment.”
Redevelopment of Midway Station has been very slow in
coming, and one item on the docket showed that very well.
A representative of Anderson Communities, the prospective
developer, asked for re-approval of the preliminary plat, a basic map and layout of the area that will be developed.
Approval expires after one year, so re-approval was needed because construction
had not begun within that time. Nothing about the plan has changed in the year,
expect the additional area which had been approved earlier in the meeting.
The re-approval of construction shows that things have been
slow going at Midway Station. According to the initial development plan, $30.7
million needs to be spent on infrastructure to turn what was an industrial park
into a mixed-use development.
Anderson Communities plans to use tax-increment financing,
which uses tax revenue from redevelopment to pay for necessary public
infrastructure.
A necessary step for Anderson’s TIF was the last Midway
Station item on the docket. Chris Westover, an attorney for Anderson
Communities, asked the council to “certify that the Midway Station Mixed Use
TIF Development Area complies with the 2011 Comprehensive Plan” adopted by the
commission and local governments.
On Oct. 7 Dennis Anderson showed the Midway City Council his
infrastructure plan, which amounts to $30.7 million in construction on roads
and sidewalks, water and sanitation systems, electricity and other essential
infrastructure, almost half the cost for parking spaces in the residential and
commercial development.
A local planning commission must certify that the
development plan fits within the local comprehensive plan before it moves up
the ranks to the state. The commission adopted the certification without dissent.
Butler said the next step is a public hearing in Midway to
determine support of the project. This hearing is scheduled for Nov. 3 at 6:30,
immediately after the regular city council meeting. If the council approves the development plan for Midway
Station, the project will move to the state for further approval. If the state
approves the project, Anderson Communities will be allowed to use TIF funds to
pay for the $30.7 million of infrastructure.
Westwood mentioned Midway Station’s long struggle for
success, starting with its development by the Woodford County Economic
Development Authority. “It was first zoned for
industrial uses back in the 1990s and when the EDA acquired it they installed
all the infrastructure but the development did not happen. Several years later
there was a stockyard proposed and everything fell apart. After that Dennis
Anderson worked out with the EDA to develop a mixed-use project.”
It looks like Anderson may finally get build on
Midway Station, and for a long time. The development may take 20 years to
complete. The only question now, along with the TIF, where will the initial
funding come from?
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