By Christian Marnon Editor
A 500-acre multi-use development in Crestwood with a new Baptist Health hospital campus and its own zoning code passed the scrutiny of the Oldham County Planning Commission during a Nov. 28 public hearing.
The planning commission in an 11-0 vote unanimously approved the zoning map amendment, master plan maps and master plan code for Clore Station, a 25-to-30-year project to unfold in phases around Exit 14 and Hwy 329. The first phase of construction is expected to begin in 2025 or 2026.
The rezoning specifically consists of multiple parcels along Hwy 329 and Veterans’ Memorial Parkway on both sides of I-71 in Crestwood. Components of the development include mixed-use buildings, diverse housing and an emphasis on sidewalks, trails, walkability, open spaces and conservation.
The “traditional neighborhood development” style emphasizes pedestrians and de-emphasizes vehicles. It also envisions streets fronted by buildings rather than parking lots and amenities accessible within a five-minute walking distance.
One-third of the development, according to local architect Gant Jones, will be maintained as green space. Despite master plan development dating back to 2019, it was reimagined to incorporate Baptist Healthcare, who later approached the Clore-Jones families about building a next-generation hospital and “healthcare village” off exit 14. The hospital parcel of the project also features specific building, site and street standards, along with Baptist Health architectural guidelines.
With the planning commission’s recommendation, Clore Station now advances to the Crestwood City Council for final approval.
The development is the brainchild of the Clore-Jones families and global planning firm DPZ of Norton Commons fame, which Gant Jones distances from Clore Station despite some parallels—particularly the autonomous zoning code classified as “planned neighborhood development”(PND).
“What’s unique about PND is this application contains its own zoning code,” Assistant Planning Director Brian Fogle said during the hearing. “It’s called form-based code, which focuses on a mixture of uses and the relation of properties [with] specific standards for design, streets and open spaces. However, if there are instances where they have not written something in the code that’s not addressed by county regulations, then county regulations will still be in effect.”
Planning Director Jim Urban emphasized that Clore Station will still be subject to “layers of review” as it unfolds in phases, with each phase returning to the Technical Review Committee.
The planning commission’s approval also came with more than a dozen binding elements that were included in consultation with subdivisions and HOAs bordering the development and the applicants.
Attorney Clay Barkley for Clore Station, meanwhile, called the existing Oldham County zoning “inappropriate” for a project of their scope, which includes numerous types of housing, civic buildings, commercial districts, walking trails and more.
“This is a comprehensive mixed-use development where buildings and structures integrate, with up to several civic buildings, a proposed hotel and a state-of-the-art hospital,” he said.
Jones called the development “near and dear” to him since it represents a large family effort between the Clore and Jones families, the former with roots in Oldham County dating back to 1808. Local developer Bob Jones, Gant’s father, married Carla Clore Jones in 1965, bridging the families together. Bob, Carla, Gant and Clay Jones, in addition to the late Lee Clore, among others, collaborated on the vision.
“What we’re trying to do for Oldham County is unusual,” Jones said. “What we are used to is Euclidean zoning, which is a separation of uses and plans [that] don’t create opportunities to put retail and residential together. [PND] makes it more dynamic.”
Several residents attended the hearing to speak in opposition.
While most said they generally liked Clore Station from a conceptual perspective, they expressed concern with safeguards for traffic and other infrastructure strains.
District 8 Constable Barry Wilding called the current traffic situation in and around the Clore Station development “broken.”
“And [you, the planning commission], are going to wait until it’s hopelessly broken to plug in a turn lane here or traffic signal there,” he said. “Yes, [this concept] has Old World charm, but [not] if it all falls apart under weight of added traffic gridlock and increased crime because we have an influx of people we can’t support. I think it’s a great thing if we can control it, but along the way, but we’ll need to make some very tough decisions very quickly, [like] the widening of 146 or the widening 22.”
Peter Hartman, a 24-year resident of the Camden Manor Subdivison that borders the Clore Station development told the planning commission that they only had “one shot” to get a project of that scale right.
Citing his own background developing a 1,038-unit town home subdivision on 146 acres in New Jersey, Hartman said construction alone will be a burden on residents.
“[With 146], I can tell you for a fact before it even happens, somehow, someway that two-lane road is going to have to be improved if for no other reason to allow for simultaneous ingress-egress for construction equipment,” he said. “Think about this for a second. Almost three decades of development. Do you have any idea the amount of traffic you will create just from construction? Can you empathize with people driving on those roads? The mud, the stone, the hazards? I am not against this concept. It’s a hybrid of a garden city concept, but you have to do it right.”
Clore Station Attorney John Talbot replied to those traffic and infrastructure concerns with his assurance that oversight will occur at each phase of the development.
“What’s important is that when we come forward with the phases for each part of project, we will run a new traffic study,” he said. “And if there are road improvements that need to be done that are attributed to our development, we will have to address that.”