SHEPHERDSVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- An unincorporated field in Shepherdsville may not stay that way if left up to the city, and that has residents upset.
Miller Enterprises LLC owns the 113-acre parcel of land along Chapeze Lane. It’s currently zoned agricultural, but owners want it annexed into the city so it can then be rezoned and sold for industrial use.
Nearly 400 homes, including a subdivision, are located nearby. And many who live in the area want it to stay quiet.
“We’re a residential valley. We really don’t want the warehouses in our area,” said Steven Phelps, who has lived on Lover’s Leap Lane for decades. “It’s the rural area. It’s not the city. It’s the reason they came back here. It’s a bunch of retirees, people who have lived back here as long as I have or longer.”
More than 100 people attended the city’s council meeting Monday night to discuss the issue, and a big concern is Chapeze Lane. Kentucky statutes say an annexed property must be adjacent or contiguous to any city boundaries, an area that’s largely unincorporated.
Neighbors say the road is just too narrow to accommodate large commercial vehicles and overall shouldn’t count as a connecting boundary. The attorney for the land developer said he wants to talk with homeowners in the hopes of coming up with a proposal they can all agree on.
“We can sit down and do everything we can to honor that area while at the same time honoring these property owners' rights to use their property in the best manner hey can,” attorney Eric Farris said.
Some council members said they needed more information and better maps of the area before they can take a final vote. Two years ago, the group sued the city over similar annexation statutes and won. They worry that since they are unincorporated and say they can’t legally vote for mayor or council members, their voices won’t be heard in any future cases.
“We have no say in the fight at all," Phelps said. "All we can do is voice our opinion, and that’s an issue."
The city council is expected to take up the issue at its next meeting in two weeks.
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