By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune managing editor
The Florence City Council appears poised to reject a plan to develop the vacant site on US 42 that formerly housed Florence Nursery and Landscaping.
Imbus Enterprises requested a change in concept development plan that would allow a self storage facility on the 5.2 acre site, which has been vacant since 2013. Imbus plans to invest approximately $4.5 million to develop the site.
The Florence Nursery and Landscaping site has been vacant since the company ceased operation in late 2013 (photos by Mark Hansel).
The City’s Planning and Zoning Committee sent the proposal forward without a recommendation and the project was discussed at the March 1, Florence Council Caucus.
Councilman Gary Winn, a member of the planning and zoning committee, said he shared the same concerns as some of the citizens that were voiced at a public hearing on the project. Those included the location of the project, the impact on property values in the surrounding area and the hours of operation.
“It’s a good project I just, based on the Comprehensive Plan and the Central Florence Strategic Plan, which is office and residential multi-family, didn’t feel like this project in this part of Florence, was right,” Winn said.
The project would be built with a brick façade facing US 42 and the buildings would be concrete.
Committee members suggested that if the council chose to recommend approval that some additional conditions to be added before a vote.
The conditions suggested included changes to elevation, exterior building colors, lighting, fencing, signage and limitations in operating hours. A condition would also have limited use of the property to a self-storage facility but Winn also had reservations about that.
“These gentlemen do operate a very nice project in other locations but if this was sold would it continue to be kept up to those standards?”
Councilman Mel Carroll also recommended against the project.
“I feel it’s the wrong location and stretches the meaning of the zoning codes we have for that location,” Carroll said.
Florence Nursery and Landscaping operated on the site from 1964 until late 2013. The business was family-owned for all but a brief period near the end of operation and the property has fallen into disrepair since it became vacant.
Councilman David A. Osborne, who voted to recommend approval of the project, said the site is an eyesore.
“It is the center of Florence and when tourists come up and down US 42, they don’t want to look at what is there now,” Osborne said. “That land, which has laid vacant in two or three years, has not had any offers in that time. They have an offer to sell the land and develop this project. I’m for it.”
Mike Duncan, an attorney with Covington-based Ziegler and Schneider representing Imbus Enterprises in the matter, made a futile attempt to garner more support. He said people are accustomed to seeing Yugos when the word self-storage is mentioned, but the project that is proposed is a Cadillac.
“We’d like to take this eyesore and turn it into something you would be proud of,” Duncan said. “With the conditions that the planning commission put on this project that we agreed to, and the conditions that were discussed at your committee…you are getting up into Mercedes and Bentley land.”
Duncan added that the topography of the site, which is long, narrow and on a downhill slope would be difficult to develop for other uses.
“You are going to have to wait for the proper project that will make good use of this land,” Duncan said. “It was mentioned that you have offices and apartments (zoned for the site) and that is true. If you did that, you would have (significant) traffic, especially peak-hour traffic.”
Councilwoman Julie Metzger Aubuchon, who is also a member of the planning and zoning committee, agreed that the project is a good fit from a traffic standpoint.
Attorney Mike Duncan prepares to speak to Florence City Council on behalf of Imbus Enterprises. Duncan called the self-storage facility project proposed by his client “a cadillac.”
“Traffic at this project would be negligible, about 10 cars a day,” Metzger Aubuchon, who voted against recommending denial of the project, said. “Apartments in that area, say 100 units, you’re talking 250 trips a day.”
The Boone County Planning Commission sent the proposal to the City of Florence with a recommendation for approval. A Planning Commission committee issued the following assessment:
“The proposed Concept Development Plan for a self storage facility is an appropriate redevelopment use for the former Florence Nursery property due to the shape of the parcel, facility design, landscaping and building materials proposed for the development.”
The purpose of the caucus, as it pertains to this project, was to determine a recommendation that will be voted on at tonight’s regularly scheduled City Council Business Meeting.
The Council had the option of approving the Planning Commission recommendation, with or without the conditions, or to reverse the recommendation for approval and deny the request. It could also refuse to act, which would have the same effect as a vote in favor of the project.
The council chose, by a 4-2 vote, to have an item placed on the agenda to overrule the Planning Commission recommendation. The decision of the city is final on zoning issues within its borders, so if the caucus vote holds up, the project will be killed.
John Imbus, owner of Imbus Enterprises, expressed frustration and disappointment with the council’s decision.
“You can see what is there and what would be there with a $ 4.5 million project bringing in pretty good tax revenue,” Imbus said. “We would clean up things and be helping a part of town that probably could use some revitalization, but they are the bosses and that’s their choice.”
The regularly City Council Business Meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Florence Government Center on Ewing Boulevard.
Contact Mark Hansel at mark.hansel@nkytribune.com
