Louisville attorney Steve Porter is probably best known for representing a group of residents opposed to the construction of a Topgolf entertainment complex at Oxmoor Center.
Porter and the group of neighbors forfeited that fight in 2021 after losing multiple challenges in court.
But Porter is back, this time representing the Tucker Station Neighborhood Association in their opposition to a proposed shopping center near Blackacre Conservancy in Jeffersontown — and he says this fight is not the same as the Topgolf battle.
“This is a very different situation because there are existing plans for this property that have been adopted by the planning commission and the Metro Council,” Porter said. “To violate these two plans would be the first time either one has ever been violated. There are about seven planned development districts in Jefferson County and none of them have ever been violated. This would be the first time. And that’s a bad example.”
Christopher Fryer
Porter was speaking Monday at a news conference in front of Metro Hall. He was joined by Don Wenzel, a member of Blackacre Conservancy's board of directors, and David Kaelin, a member of the Tucker Station Neighborhood Association.
The plans Porter was referring to are the Tyler Rural Settlement District Neighborhood Plan and the Tyler Town Center Planned Development District, which is part of Plan 2040.
Adopted in 2008, the Tyler Rural Settlement District Neighborhood Plan was created to guide future development of the 600-acre district, in ways that preserve and enhance its historic and natural characteristics, according to the plan. The Tyler Town Center Planned Development District limits the footprint of retail developments on the land in question — at 12515 Taylorsville Road — to 20,000 square feet. Porter said the property is currently zoned for residential and light retail.
Developers filed a change in zoning application last year to switch the zoning of the proposed retail development from a classification called planned development to a C1 neighborhood commercial zone, according to Louisville Metro Government records.
In a 3-2 vote, the Louisville Metro Planning and Design Services Planning Commission recommended that Metro Council deny a zoning change in April and the Metro Council Planning and Zoning Committee voted to uphold that recommendation. The issue is set to go before the full Metro Council on Thursday.
We reached out to Gilezan Global CEO Stephanie Gilezan, whose company owns the proposed shopping center property, but have not heard back yet. This story may be updated.
The 65,000-square-foot shopping center would sit on nearly 12 acres and includes 58,847 square feet of space for a grocery anchor tenant and two retail buildings, according to the filing, as well as 2,000 square feet for a bank and 4,200 square feet of additional retail.
The proposed development sits at the corner of Taylorsville Road and Tucker Station Road near an existing Kroger and across the street from a Circle K gas station about a half mile from the entrance to Blackacre.
Blackacre, which manages the 170-acre Blackacre State Nature Preserve and Historic Settlement near the proposed shopping center, claims the development poses a “significant threat” to the preservation of the site.
On Thursday, Wenzel and Porter said they don’t oppose small retail and residential units being developed on the site. Wenzel said he also doesn’t oppose a big box retailer coming to the district, just not on the slice of land in question, which leads to Blackacre. He said there is a site further east in the district where a development of this size would be allowed.
“The reason that [the plans] have lower density for this particular parcel is to make sure that the rural nature of this area of the settlement remains. That was the intent back in 2008 when the neighborhood plan was established and the follow-on [planned development district],” Wenzel said. “There is space in the Tyler Town Center Planned District where a retail store of this scale could go. For whatever reason, this developer has chosen not to propose locating it there. We are not opposed to development, we are not opposed to big box retail. If you really had to put a soundbite to it: you’ve got to stick to the rules of the [planned development district]. Rules made, rules kept.”
In an interview with Business First in April, Gilezan said the development has been designed with the environment in mind, which is why there is not a gas station planned for the site, even though there is an existing gas station on the other side of Tucker Station Road, the same side as Blackacre.
She also said that if approved, the new development will bring added conveniences to residents in the area.
“That’s a growing area and right now they have very limited ability to shop. They’ve got one grocery store, limited restaurants, limited amenities,” Gilezan said. “This is going to bring very good neighborhood atmosphere for all the families and people in that area to enjoy without having to drive further in [town] in heavy traffic.”
Gilezan also hinted that one of the tenants lined up for the development would be a big name grocery chain. While she said she could not name the retailer, she did add that the last time one of the stores opened “there was a mile long line to get in.”
When Lakeland, Florida-based Publix Super Markets Inc. opened its first Kentucky location in January in Middletown shoppers were camping out hours before it opened, with more than 200 people in line by 7 a.m.
