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Wednesday, November 7, 2018

EDA delays application for industrial rezoning of 138 acres adjoining Midway Station and Brown-Forman

By Thomas Franconia
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

The Woodford County Economic Development Authority has postponed its application to rezone property owned by Homer Freeny Jr., north and east of Midway Station, likely for a month. The Versailles-Midway-Woodford County Planning Commission had scheduled a public hearing on the application for Thursday night, Nov. 8.

The application seeks light-industrial zoning of 138 acres of agricultural property that is in the middle of commercial and industrial users. If approved, the rezoning would provide an industrial area that reaches from Interstate 64 to South Elkhorn Creek, the county line, including the Brown-Forman whiskey warehouses being built in an agricultural zone under a conditional-use permit.

EDA Chair John Soper said, “We felt as if we were getting too ahead of ourselves” and “needed to resolve all issues” before moving on to the next step.

The issues addressed are sewer and water hookup locations. Soper said EDA is looking at different areas than previously planned, but needs more geographical detail in order to know the best alternative.

Over the next month, a plan should emerge to implement appropriate and efficient utility areas, and push the application through its current stage. As soon as this happens, a date will be scheduled for a public hearing on the application. The next commission meeting is scheduled for Dec. 13.

The property is not in the city limits, but the city is expected to annex it. It is just inside the urban-services boundary set in the county's recently revised comprehensive plan.
Vision Engineering map, labeled by Midway Messenger, shows in red (and a small block of green) the property that  the Midway City Council recently rezoned. The county Fiscal Court would have final say-so in rezoning the large green tract.

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