Richmond planners get first look at the Farms at Barnes Mill

RICHMOND, Ky. (WTVQ) – Richmond city planners get their first look at a major development, and except for concerns about traffic along Barnes Mill and Coggins Lane, Planning Commission members generally offered support for the 420-acre project on the city’s east side.

Wednesday’s hearing was a first step in the Ramsey family’s hopes to have the property annexed and zoned planned unit development.

The Farms at Barnes Mill would become home to more than 11 hundred homes of different kinds, parks, and 67 acres of commercial during the next 10 years. The proposal was compared in some ways to the Summit at Fritz Farm in Lexington.

“It’s good for everybody, a lot more interest that can happen, a lot can change, but they can’t just do willie nillie and there is no bait and switch. If they cross certain thresholds, it triggers another meeting. All that’s in the ordinance and that gives the community a lot more in put and control over how it is done,” noted Planning Commission member Brandon Powell during the hour-long presentation and discussion.

The Planning Commission will discuss more details, including traffic studies on Coggins Lane and Barnes Mill Road at a May 19 meeting. Several more meetings must be held before the plans are approved and the annexation completed.