LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville developer wants to build a nearly 300-unit apartment complex in St. Matthews near Westport Road and Ridgeway Avenue on a rare piece of undeveloped land, and nearby residents have concerns.
LDG Development filed plans recently for the project, which would displace an existing apartment building, offices and The Plant Kingdom Garden Center. It calls for three buildings on the 8.7-acre site, including a five-story structure, a clubhouse, a parking garage and a dog park.
The land is now approved for residential, office, and commercial uses, but LDG is seeking to have it all rezoned for multi-family living. Part of the property is already zoned for apartments. And since learning about the proposed development, neighbors have had a lot of questions.
Eunice Krish, who lives on Ridgeway Avenue, said traffic has been a problem for years.
"This street is a very busy street anyway," Krish said. "In 2017, we petitioned and got speed humps put in because of the traffic."
Rendering of the proposed Gilman's Point Apartments in St. Matthews (courtesy LDG Development).
Krish said the speed bumps have stopped speeders but not traffic backups. That’s why neighbors are concerned about the proposed apartment complex.
"We have Holy Trinity Church and school, we have Trinity High School (and) we have Sacred Heart," she said. "That's just the school traffic. You add in the business traffic, and this street stays busy."
The site is near the intersection of Westport and Ridgeway just north of the main railroad line through St. Matthews, an unusual area where cars moving north on Westport over the railroad tracks don’t have to stop. But there is a two-way stop for vehicles on the north side of the tracks.
Krish shared cell phone video from Tuesday morning and said it shows how the railroad crossing makes the problem even worse.
"I can guarantee you, just like when the train is coming through now, the traffic will back up on my street," she said. "Because they will try to go straight over the railroad track and avoid the roundabout. So it's going to create even more traffic."
Christi Lanier-Robinson, executive vice president of LDG Development, said the company plans to address the traffic and any other questions and concerns from neighbors. The LDG plans call for a new traffic roundabout at Ridgeway and Westport, “which we believe will improve the traffic pattern for everybody,” Lanier-Robinson said.
"First of all, LDG is a locally-based company that is headquartered here, and we're very much a part of the community," she said. "So we're aware of some of the traffic issues and so that's why one of the things that we put in our development plan is to improve the roundabout that is located at that site."
There will be a public meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. Matthews Episcopal Church in which residents can ask questions and hear more about LDG's plans.
"This is the community's opportunity to provide feedback, learn more, so that ultimately what we build is something that's going to benefit those who live in that area," Lanier-Robinson said.
But Krish said neighbors are prepared to do more than just ask questions.
"Roundabout, overpass, whatever, it's not going to be conducive to the neighborhood," she said. "They're ready to sign petitions. They're ready to get attorneys. They're ready to do anything to be out in force and let these developers know they're not welcome in our neighborhood."
The apartment project would be named Gilman's Point Apartments after Daniel Gilman, a prominent 19th-century citizen of the city that became St. Matthews.
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