WALTON, Ky. — The owner of a northern Kentucky farmland said he wants to turn it into condominiums for seniors, but some Boone County residents said this will bring too much traffic to an already heavy traffic area.
One alternative could be a pig farm, which one resident said she wouldn't mind.
Christine Suedkamp and her husband moved out to their house in southern Boone County about seven years ago. They love the 13 acres, their chickens and what is mostly peace and quiet.
But sometimes, it's broken up by cars flying down Richwood Road.
“Man, they gun it ... it's scary,” Suedkamp said. “Our mailbox has been hit seven times.”
Suedkamp said the future of Cornerstone Farm across the street has gotten her and some of her neighbors riled up. She can see the barn from her yard.
“Years ago, there were a few horses running around there,” Suedkamp said. “And it’s just crazy what they’ve been trying to do in this area.”
The farm is owned by Mark Jacobs’ family, along with other investors. For years, he has been trying to get approval for a zoning change that would allow him to develop a gated community for people 55 and older on the 35-acre plot.
“It's going to be right down from (grocery store) Publix, all the new medical stuff coming in," he said. "It’s going to be a quiet, gated community with facilities inside for seniors that are there."
His team has presented two options. One would feature 24 buildings and 147 units. The dairy barn would also be converted to an activity center.
The second option would be much smaller at about 60 units.
Another option Jacobs said has always been on the table is a free-range pig farm.
“It’s been a farm," Jacobs said. "My dad had it as a farm. He didn’t have anything other than horses, but there were a lot more free range horsing areas that he had partnerships with way back in the day. The farm’s not big enough to stay as a horse farm; it's got to be an operating farm."
Concerned neighbors have packed the chamber at multiple Boone County Fiscal Court meetings, bringing up concerns about stormwater runoff, increased traffic from the condos and obstructed views.
Suedkamp said she's skeptical about the condos being for seniors.
“As soon as somebody brings in their kid, their son, they live there with their grandkids, then they stay and they take over ... it's going to turn into a rental,” she said. “The way the traffic is there, it’s awful. And for something like this to come in, as big as it is, with the other shops and restaurants and the senior home and what’s all going on the other end, it’s crazy.”
While the Boone County Planning Commission approved the zoning change, members of the fiscal court indicated they were in favor of overturning that decision.
Jacobs said he felt the writing was on the wall.
“I want to do a (senior center), but that’s not what the neighbors want," Jacobs said. "They want to have a place that they can, I guess, see farming going on, instead of having that."
Some residents have also complained about the possible pig farm, but Suedkamp isn’t one of them.
“We don't care about a pig farm," she said. "Bring on the farm. It’s what it should be around here in Boone County and what we want."
The next Boone County Fiscal Court meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 23. The board could read an ordinance that would overturn the zoning change approval.