In September of 2024 Metro Louisville submitted an application to the federal government requesting $7,000,000 “to further develop, evaluate, and implement housing policy plans, improve housing strategies, and facilitate affordable housing production and preservation.”
The application states they will combine this $7M of federal money with $7.3 million of taxes taken by Metro Louisville. As you read their plans, ask yourself if this is how your tax dollars should be spent.
The application states that $1.2M has already been spent to buy 6 acres in Berrytown to DONATE to a developer, a private company! In addition to the free land, $7.6M will also be given to a developer(s) to ensure they are successful. The remaining $5.5M is allocated to hire outside consultants to write Land Development Code changes. (Quick math: $5.5M at $100/hr = 55,000 hours of work! That equates to almost 1,400 40-hour weeks!)
What kind of changes will we get for $5.5M worth of work? Elimination and exclusion. Eliminate the need for zoning changes (which currently require your elected officials at Metro Council to approve) in order to increase density—”Allow duplex, triplex, and fourplex uses in all residential zoning districts.” And exclude public input/involvement by eliminating many public hearings for development approvals.
Who will these changes impact? “The geographic scope of the proposal is the entire Louisville Metro/Jefferson County area.”
Interestingly, Metro Louisville admits in the application:
Urban sprawl creates strain on our residents, infrastructure, the environment, and local budgets
but then spends over 50 pages stating how they want to spend $5.5M to do this anyway.
The application tries to present a picture that housing should be for “priority areas” only and even presents a map highlighting these areas. The application states:
Funding priority will be given to proposed projects in PRO Housing priority areas
However, the $1.2M Metro Louisville spent on the land to “be donated for the development of missing middle housing development, building off current LDC reform efforts” is not even within the “PRO Housing Priority Area boundary line.” The very first “demonstration project,” which should be in a priority area, is slated to occur in Berrytown–outside a priority area.
The residents of Berrytown were very upset and stated on multiple occasions during the neighborhood meeting that, due to the lack of transit, walkability, and surrounding forms of housing, multi-family was “a poor fit for the site.”
While Metro Louisville states the land code changes are to encourage certain building in certain priority places throughout the city, they will not codify these requirements. In the end, the language will be much like the angst-causing Floyds Fork DRO, with a bunch of shoulds and no shalls. The predominant language is what was written in the “scope,” which states:
The geographic scope of the proposal is the entire Louisville Metro/Jefferson County area.
The plan is to cover all of Louisville with higher density allowances, but with no requirement of transit or walkability standards. The entire city will be covered by a generic map and a pile of “shoulds.”