LOUISVILLE, Ky. —After a rally on Tuesday, April 22,called on Louisville city leaders to address housing issues, Metro Councilmember Andrew Owen said he couldn’t agree more with what residents were asking for.
What You Need To Know
- Louisville Metro Councilmember Andrew Owen, Chair of the Planning and Zoning Committee, said building housing in Louisville is difficult because their development timeline is long, which drives up costs and can put projects out of reach for smaller developers
- Owen said he hopes to amend Louisville’s Land Development Code after a moratorium, freezing any zoning law changes in the city, expired April 15
- Councilmember Khalil Batshon said Louisville has all the resources needed to address homelessness and he would prefer following the processes Louisville currently has at its disposal and finding some common ground with his fellow councilmembers
- Batshon said he believes in investing in homeowner in totality, but isn’t on board with by-right zoning that may encourage middle housing
“As soon as we get through the budget cycle, which we’re right in the middle of right now, we’re going to be focused on trying to get some reforms completed to the Land Development Code where we can both speed up and encourage more housing, more density, more height, building it more quickly. And so we’re going to be addressing that very shortly,” Owen said.
Owen is the Chair of the Planning and Zoning Committee, and he acknowledges building housing in metro Louisville is difficult.
He said their development timeline is long, which drives up costs and can put projects out of reach for smaller developers.
Nationwide, including in Louisville, Owen said it is hard to build anything other than single-family homes or large multi-family housing developments.
“We’re hearing from constituents in Louisville,” he said. “People are very much turning against the large multi-family housing developments and are looking for some different options, whether it be townhouses, whether it be three-plex or four-plex, that sort of thing. We’re looking to try and fill in that gap.”
Last year, House Bill 388 put a freeze on Louisville’s ability to amend its Land Development Code, thus preventing any reformation that may have allowed Louisville to incorporate different builds for developments.
That moratorium expired April 15, and Owen said he hopes that over the next six months, there can be meaningful changes to the Land Development Code.
Fellow Metro Councilmember Khalil Batshon said he believes Louisville has all the resources needed to address homelessness. He said it is just a matter of pointing people in the right direction.
Bashton said he and his Republican colleagues believe in investing in homeownership in totality, but he isn’t on board with by-right zoning that may encourage middle housing.
“I’m not a huge fan of that, and I think many of our Jefferson County constituents have expressed their concerns in not being a fan of that,” Batshon said. “We need to really emphasize on reutilizing our stuff in the urban services district downtown especially. And taking some of these old abandoned buildings and converting them into living spaces and I think more of that and support that infrastructure is going to be great.”
That’s not to say the East End of Louisville isn’t getting more housing. Batshon said in District 19, they’re leading the county in multi-family housing.
For now, he’s a fan of following the processes Louisville currently has at its disposal and finding some common ground with his fellow councilmembers.
