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Summary of the Glynwood Center 1999 Countryside Exchange Visit and Report: 

Oldham County, Kentucky—Creating a Vision for the Future

The Oldham County Countryside Exchange, which is now Oldham Ahead!, in conjunction with the Glynwood Center, sponsored a visit by an international team of planning experts Nov 4 – 12, 1999 to address a number of growth related issues facing Oldham County over the next 20 years.              

The community asked the team to address the broad question, “How can residents of Oldham County promote growth while being good stewards of their community’s abundant natural resources?”                                    

The team addressed this and a number of specific questions relating to land use, recreation, the environment, and the preservation of the County’s cultural and historical resources.

Using the questions as a guide, the Exchange Team entered into extensive discussions with the citizens of Oldham County to research and address the issues facing the County.               

These discussions included meetings with local government officials, three visioning sessions, aerial, driving and farm tours, and five themed roundtable discussions comprising panels of local experts and government officials.  

By the end of the Exchange week, the team had spoken with some 400 Oldham County residents representing a wide cross section of the county.  While the team’s charter was to examine issues in the North Oldham planning areas of Brownsboro, Goshen/North Oldham, and Westport/L’Espirit,  the preponderance of issues and resulting recommendations actually applied to the county at large. 

An initial, abbreviated report was provided to the public on Nov 11, 1999.  The Glynwood Center provided the final 40-page report to the Oldham County Countryside Exchange the second week of February 2000.                            

You can view the report at the Glynwood Center’s website at www.glynwood.org to view this and other community reports.

The team identified five key issues that are addressed in the report:

• Managing growth through efficient land use.

• Sustaining and diversifying the economy.

• Involving the community.

• Preserving and enhancing the natural and cultural resources.

• Expanding recreational opportunities.

In general, the report advocates growth, continued economic development, and the adoption of coordinated and controlled planning in order for the county to progress while maintaining its high quality of life.  The report points out that population growth itself is not the issue; rather, current uncoordinated growth threatens natural resources including water supplies, diminishes the County’s character, increases taxes and traffic, and ultimately destroys the very features that Oldham County citizens says make the county a desirable place to live.

The team wrote that it heard a consensus developing that favored growth but with a change—one that would bring about concentrated growth rather than seeing it continued to spread across the countryside.  It believes that the citizens of Oldham County have a vision – the creation of livable landscapes as an alternative to the current pattern of development. 

Managing Growth Through Efficient Land Use:  The team recommends the creation of a zoning and land use map that reflects the integral assets of each distinctive and diverse landscape in the County.  These include Town and Suburban Landscapes—traditionally centers for development and Natural and Rural Landscapes—traditionally important open space, environmentally sensitive, scenic and agricultural business resources that are least appropriate for intense development. 

The report further recommends incorporating the concept of centers in the comprehensive plan.  Centers would exist in the rural and suburban landscapes and serve as focal points of existing and future growth in the landscapes.  The report did not suggest the location of potential centers; rather it noted that they should be identified by consultation with citizens and local officials in a public participation program.  Finally, the team recommended the County’s comprehensive plan incorporate the concept of development corridors.  Corridors are land areas along major transportation routes that connect urban, suburban, and rural centers.  The team writes that corridors should require special land use controls designed to enhance the overall visual character of their larger physical area with an aim to improve and maintain the experience of citizens who drive these corridors.

Sustaining and Diversifying the Economy:  The team’s recommendations in this area include placing agriculture, the equine industry, and the woodland and forestry sectors within the context of the County’s economic development process.  The report also includes a number of suggestions and techniques to preserve the county’s agricultural resources, promote cooperation and collaboration among farmers, improve tourism, develop greater public access to the Ohio River, and encourages home-based employment.

Involving the Community:  Noting the residents of the county place a high value on community but pointing out that many residents lack a voice in matters, the team believes that citizens see change happening in their community and do not feel they are able to control what is happening around them.  The lack of a common vision leads to divisiveness over specific development proposals.  The team writes that these issue-by-issue battles divide the community rather than offering opportunities for them to come together.  The team believes the ongoing comprehensive planning update process offers an important opportunity to develop a common vision for the community and a shared sense of place.

Specific recommendations in this area include the establishment of a citizen-based Advisory Board to reach out to residents and businesses of the county to build consensus regarding planning, growth, and development issues; greater involvement of residents in local governmental processes and decisions, the encouragement of local and state promotion of Oldham County, and a special effort by government and community organizations to reach out to residents who have not typically been involved in local government and community initiatives.  The report also suggests the county continue to seek opportunities to bring in expertise and advice from other communities that have successfully grappled with similar issues facing Oldham County.

 Improving Recreational Opportunities:  The team reports three key recreational needs emerged from discussions with citizens:  The need for trails and informal public access to the Ohio River and the stream valley; the need for opportunities to travel by foot or bicycle within and between communities; and the need for more common open space associated with new developments.  Recommendations include supporting the existing Greenway project to a greater extent; designing open spaces in clustered subdivisions, and identifying priority areas where land acquisition could establish additional parks and nature preserves.

Protecting and Enhancing Natural and Cultural Resources:  The team concluded that the countryside, along with the county’s people, is probably its greatest asset—one which should be nurtured for its inestimable value to its residents and the economy, and its potential to sustain and inspire future generations.  The report identifies a number of issues and threats facing natural resources of the county and recommended the convening of an Oldham County environmental advisory council to forward issues, coordinate activities of existing active groups, and communicate its existence to develop a wider network within the county.  The team also recommended involving the community in identifying, describing, and cataloging the county’s landscapes, habitats, and watersheds, the publishing of an Oldham County State of the Environment Report, and measures to protect streams, woodlands, and naturally vegetated areas.