Council takes no action on Pralltown development
A rendering on the proposed development on South Limestone, near UK’s campus and on the edge of the Pralltown neighborhood.
Last week, Council chose not to take any action on a zone change request that would allow a 210-unit student housing complex to be built on South Limestone in the Pralltown neighborhood.
In October, the Planning Commission voted 5-4 against the zone change.
Council typically votes on zone changes after the Planning Commission, either in Council’s formal meetings or in a specially scheduled public hearing.
However, Council chose not to add this zone change to a formal docket and did not schedule a public hearing.
If Council does not take any action by January 22nd, the Planning Commission’s vote of disapproval will stand.
It is extremely uncommon for Council to take no action on a requested zone change. In the November 19th Council Work Session, several Councilmembers said they wanted to take no action and give the developer time to discuss their proposed changes with the neighborhood before making a decision.
Council could theoretically vote on the zone change the week of January 13th when they come back from their winter recess.
At that point, it would be impossible for Council to schedule a public hearing, as hearing notices need to be sent out 21 days in advance of the public hearing.
Pralltown residents advocated against the development before Planning Commission and Council. They did not want Council to schedule a public hearing because they did not want the developer of the proposed complex, Subtext, to have an opportunity to win Council’s support.
In an effort to win neighborhood and Council support, Subtext had proposed a number of changes to the development after the Planning Commission’s vote. The changes did not seem to change the minds of Pralltown residents.
