Franklin County Fiscal Court approves two zoning changes for Hickman Hill Road parcels after split votes

Judge Michael Mueller presided over the Fiscal Court meeting on July 10, 2024, where members voted to change zoning for two parcels at 850 Hickman Hill Road following contested motions and formal findings of fact.

On a 4-3 vote, the court approved a second-reading ordinance moving a 50.597-acre tract (portion of PVA Map #104-00-00-005.00) from Rural Residential A (RA) to Agricultural (AG). The court first rejected a motion to deny the zone change (that denial carried among Squires J.W. Blackburn, Kelly Dycus and Eric Whisman but failed when Squires Sherry Sebastian, Mike Harrod, Richard Tanner and Judge Mueller voted against denial). Squire Mike Harrod then moved, and Squire Sherry Sebastian seconded, to establish Finding of Fact #1 under KRS 100.213 that the existing RA zoning was less appropriate and the proposed AG zoning was more appropriate; that motion passed 4-3, and the ensuing ordinance passed on second reading with the same 4-3 split.

The court followed the same sequence on a neighboring 4.576-acre tract (also listed as part of PVA Map #104-00-00-005.00). A motion to deny the map amendment from RA to Rural Residential (RR) initially carried among Squires Blackburn, Dycus and Whisman but failed overall. The court then voted 4-3 to establish the Finding of Fact required by KRS 100.213 and approved the ordinance amending the zoning classification from RA to RR on second reading.

Both contested items involved formal land-use procedures: the court relied on the Planning Commission’s findings of fact as the basis for the required KRS 100.213 determinations before voting to change the zoning designation. The minutes record no additional conditions attached to either approval.

The actions redraw land-use expectations for the two listed parcels at 850 Hickman Hill Road and were decided along a consistent 4-3 division among the court’s six squire members and the presiding judge. The court recorded the motions, findings and vote counts in the official minutes; the ordinances amend The Table of Special Ordinances, Section 1 Zoning Map Changes of the Franklin County Code of Ordinances.