Three years after approving the development of a subdivision off the roundabout at Smallhouse and Elrod roads, the City-County Planning Commission approved an amended plan Thursday that removes two houses from the project and reduces the minimum allowable home size that can be built there.

The 5.73-acre development controlled by developer Michael Vitale’s Stagner Farms LLC will now be capped at 30 homes instead of 32 as originally approved in 2021.

The development will consist entirely of single-family detached houses, eliminating the twinhomes called for in the previous plan.

Also, some of the homes to be built can be as little as 850 square feet, a reduction from the 1,000-square foot minimum requirement approved in the original plan.

Attorney Chris Davenport, representing Stagner Farms, said the developer agreed to some conditions Thursday that included a requirement that no fewer than 15 homes in the development have a minimum of 1,000 square feet of living space and that the front facade of the first floor shall be composed of stone, brick or some other masonry material, a change from a development plan condition that allowed for “unlimited vinyl” exteriors.

The plan also calls for the houses to be owner-occupied for a 10-year period after the issuance of a certificate of occupancy.

The commission was split on amending the plan, approving it by a 3-2 vote, with commission chair Dean Warren and vice-chair Tim Graham voting in opposition.

Davenport said the developer requested amending the plan in order to meet a need for entry-level housing in the county, citing data from a 2023 countywide housing needs assessment commissioned by the city that showed about a third of people in the county who are the head of their household are younger than 35, about 45% of renters struggle to make money to afford their rent and only 16% of households are owner households.

“It is an effort to bridge what the commission’s housing study says is an overall low percentage of homeowners in Warren County,” Davenport said.

To address that need to shore up the number of available properties for first-time homeowners, the developer is looking at building homes with a price point between $162,000 and $206,000, Davenport said.

“We are ensuring that the development addresses the need of helping people get out of rental homes and start building some equity through home ownership so they can move up to the 2,500-square foot home or the 3,500-square foot home,” Davenport said.

Graham expressed reluctance to go along with the amendment, sharing concerns about the plans regarding vinyl exteriors on the home and about compatibility with neighboring developments, while Warren spoke about opposition to reducing the square footage allowed in the development.

Carol Douglas, president of the Mackenzie Meadows Homeowners Association, which abuts the development, said that she would like to have buffers constructed between the neighboring properties to ensure compatibility.

Another resident, Jeffrey Meeks, raised questions about how the plan would affect the value of his home and others nearby.

“We plan on moving up, what are these homes going to do to my price in 10 years when I plan to sell,” Meeks said.

Susan James, another neighbor, shared concerns about how the additional homes might stress the drainage basin in the area and lead to flooding.

This was the only proposal at Thursday’s meeting that earned a split vote from the commission, which gave all other items on the agenda unanimous approval.

The planning commission also approved an application from JourneyPure Bowling Green LLC and PRI Properties LLC to rezone 11.21 acres at 8264 Louisville Road from agriculture to highway business, with the property on the site to be redeveloped as a substance abuse recovery center that would include inpatient and outpatient services.

Paula Tarry, who owns property across from the site, voiced opposition to the rezoning, saying that it was incompatible with the surrounding properties.

“My concern lies in not being an appropriate location for this type of facility due to the impact of the surrounding agricultural and residential area,” Tarry said.

Also approved Thursday was a request from Westen Apartments LLC to rezone 22.82 acres at Russellville Road and Southwest Parkway to highway business.

David Alford of Westen Apartments is looking to subdivide the property into up to nine commercial lots, with a fuel station/convenience store anchoring the development at the corner of Russellville Road and Southwest Parkway.