Not everyone happy with new development rules for Floyds Fork. Here's why

After packed community meetings and months of anticipation from residents, Louisville planning officials have proposed new rules for development around Floyds Fork.

Advocates for the stream were hoping the rules would set firm, science-based limits on how developers could build along the waterway, one of Louisville's best-preserved natural treasures and the spine of the beloved Parklands.

Instead, some said, the draft falls short.

“I thought it was a start," said Hal Heiner, who's trained as a civil engineer and lives on a corn and soybean farm along the Fork. "But it’s still missing the mark.”

And Lucas Frazier, who lives along Floyds Fork and co-leads the advocacy group Louisville Keep Your Fork, said he's worried the proposed changes would make it harder for the public to monitor and comment on development activity along the waterway.

"They've given us a nickel and stolen a dollar," he said.

A rush of development has taken place along the banks of Floyds Fork in recent years. At the same time, residents have observed a decline in the stream's health, worsening flooding and a burden on animals, as a crucial wildlife corridor is constricted and water quality falls.

How Louisville's planning officials decide to govern development around Floyds Fork could determine the stream's fate. Here's a look at the draft rules proposed by the city, and what stakeholders think about them:

A way to waive the rules

At first glance, the city's revisions to development guidelines around Floyds Fork seem to align with much of what stream advocates had demanded in public meetings.

Louisville's current development code provides guidelines on how to develop near Floyds Fork sensibly, but does not have the teeth to require it.

The new rules, in many key places, would turn "should" into "shall," prohibiting developers from building in the floodplain, channelizing the stream, and other environmental restrictions.

But the draft also includes a clause allowing the planning commission to "modify, reduce or waive" those requirements designed to protect the stream.

"If we were serious about protecting the environment, and protecting this wildlife corridor," Frazier said, "then we would not have the ability to modify, reduce and waive those standards."

Under the rules, some waiver requests would require an environmental assessment by a consultant, paid for by the developer.

The rules do not establish who chooses the consultant for those assessments, and a spokesperson said the city is looking for public input on who should decide that.

Representatives for the Building Industry Association of Greater Louisville, a voice for the development community, were still looking over the draft and were not yet ready to offer their perspective, according to executive vice president Juva Barber.

The 'no-touch zone'

The draft regulations include required buffer zones, where the land cannot be disturbed or developed a certain distance from the stream bank.

The proposed buffers aren't enough, some said.

"My initial reaction is, I'd like to see a little more buffer," said Metro Councilman Anthony Piagentini, who represents communities in the northern stretch of Floyds Fork, and said he'd spoken with some experts and constituents about the draft.

Extending the buffer area, or "no-touch zone," Heiner said, "would be a huge step forward" for protecting Floyds Fork as a critical wildlife corridor — especially as dense subdivisions crop up with three to four houses per acre.

Underestimating the weather

Frazier, Heiner and many of their neighbors have watched the trickle of Floyds Fork turn into a raging torrent with just a few inches of rain.

The draft rules include provisions to reduce flood risk and prohibit developers from building in the floodplain without a waiver.

But that 100-year floodplain, designed to identify land with a 1% chance of flooding in any given year — or about a 1 in 4 chance of occurring during a 30-year mortgage — is based on outdated federal modeling, especially as climate change contributes to shifting rainfall patterns in Kentucky.

"Their numbers are outdated," Frazier said. "And yet, we're still building at this arbitrary 100-year floodplain, knowing that we're experiencing much worse."

Updates to federal precipitation modeling is in the works, this time accounting for climate change. But in the meantime, neighborhoods built outside of existing floodplain bounds still face heightened flood risk.

Piagentini balked at an all-out prohibition on floodplain development, saying he wanted considerations for "allowing reasonable, environmentally-solid mitigation" in higher-ground floodplains, rather than "creating a code that would make it impossible" to develop the area.

What's next?

Last month, Piagentini proposed a moratorium on development around the stream until the city's planning officials had finalized the revised development rules.

"You can't find a more pro-development council member," Piagentini told The Courier Journal in June, but he feels recent development along the waterway has proven unsustainable. He indicated he still intends to pursue the moratorium as the draft guidelines work through the review and approval process.

The city has already collected hundreds of survey responses, showing a public preference for strict stream setbacks, no floodplain development, wetland protections and more. But there's still time to share input.

The entire draft can be viewed on the Louisville Metro Planning and Design Services website. The agency is currently accepting public comment via an online form, and questions about the rules and process can be directed to planning officials at 502-574-6230.

Connor Giffin is an environmental reporter for The Courier Journal and a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. The program funds up to half of corps members’ salaries, but requires a portion also be raised through local community fundraising. To support local environmental reporting in Kentucky, tax-deductible donations can be made at courier-journal.com/RFA.

Learn more about RFA at reportforamerica.org. Reach Connor directly at cgiffin@gannett.com or on Twitter @byconnorgiffin.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: New rules would govern development near Floyds Fork. Are they enough?