LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For Sam Heath, he is no stranger to the busy roads next to Cherokee Park and is a student at one of the nearby seminaries.
“At least four days a week, I’m in this area,” he said.
He knows how traffic can get at the intersection of Lexington Road and Grinstead Drive. The road construction doesn’t help right now but it’s a different construction project that has many people talking.
“I see a space that could possibly use some type of lifting,” he said.
The One Park project is looking to build a large complex in the more than three acres of land with more than 400 living places, a luxury hotel with 250 room and a space for restaurants and retail. The highest building would be 18-stories.
“When communities are built, you automatically think about the grocery stores that come along with it. There are eating places that comes along with it. Popularity grows. Traffic grows,” he said.
Heath isn’t the only one who’s thinking about this land.
“When I drive by that piece of land, it actually makes me angry at the things you look at when you drive by today,” Zach Watts said.
Nearly 100 people packed the Louisville Planning Commission’s meeting to discuss a request from the developer, Jefferson Development Group, to re-zone the property to a planned development district.
Some spoke out in support.
“This is really a no-brainer. We’ve got an opportunity here to develop a parcel to kind of attract talent to the city that is leaving,” Tyler Chesser said.
Others, voiced concerns over heavy traffic and says the project is too big for the space.
"There's nothing really wrong with the concept of One Park, except that it is too big," a resident said.
Another resident added, "I think 18 [stories] is just too much. I think that's great for downtown. That's where we have conventions. That's where we need this kind of a building."
For Heath, still a newcomer, he says he doesn’t know enough about the area to support or oppose the project but says he hopes the push for new development will continue throughout his new city.
“Whenever you start thinking of ways to boost business to bring in new revenue, I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.”
The meeting went on for nearly 5 hours and if they don't vote on the re-zoning, Louisville Planning Commission leaders would have to have another meeting at a later date.
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