Somerset Council puts off zone change due to access question
Jan. 23—Somerset City Council agreed to delay a decision on rezoning a piece of property until definitive answers can be found to some of the councilors' questions — such as what will happen to the parking lot that serves a nearby business which was somehow built over an area surveys show should have been a street.
It also concerns council members who would be responsible for paying to build a street there.
The property in question is currently zoned for business as a B-3 (small business) property. It is located next to the intersection of where Early and Conley streets should meet, but neither were built out far enough to actually reach the property.
The new owner, Slade Properties, want the property rezoned to R-3 to be able to build residential apartments there.
At some point in the past some owner or manager of Somerwoods Nursing and Rehabilitation Center paved over what was considered an empty lot — which on surveys and the Pulaski County PVA's website show to be part of Conley Drive — and placed a parking lot there.
That area, if it is supposed to be a street, would allow access from Bourne Avenue directly to the proposed apartment complex.
At the city council meeting two weeks ago, a first reading on the zone change was held. The second reading and vote for the zone change was on Monday's agenda — until Council Member Robin Daughetee said he wanted to ask a few questions before allowing a motion to vote.
Among the questions: How exactly will the planned apartment building get street access? Will the city or the property owner need to pay to build the street? What would happen to the parking lot? And, by extension, what happens to the people who park there? Were there any agreements or deals made with the city that allowed that parking lot to be built to begin with?
"Is the city exempt from adverse possession, or can they [the nursing home] claim adverse possession?" Daughetee asked.
"...I understand the streets don't affect the zoning, but are the property owners coming around that area saying they'll put a lot more traffic in on our streets?"
After Daughetee finished, City Attorney John Adams tried to answer those questions the best that he could.
Firstly, Slade Properties had the area surveyed, Adams said, and according to that survey, the area showed that a dedicated roadway belonging to the city was indeed there. It just had never been built.
"One of the basic things that you learn in law school is that you do not get adverse possession against a railroad or a public entity," Adams said. "It's very hard. I'm not saying it never happens, but I'm 99% sure it never happens."
Therefore, Adams said he believed that the area was public property and he doesn't know why a private parking lot was allowed to be built there.
"Will there be a controversy in the future? Yes, or most likely. Do I think based on what I know now that the city would prevail on that? Yes. Who would pay to open up the street? I don't know," Adams said.
Furthermore, Adams said that he had spoken with those who run the nursing home, and said they are concerned about losing that parking area.
Daughetee and several other councilors expressed that they wanted to know what the nursing home owners thought of the situation, at which point Mayor Alan Keck offered to contact the managers directly to discuss it with them.
Keck also assured that no actions would be taken immediately, no matter what the council decided.
"We will do nothing that creates an abrupt change," Keck said. "Even if this [zone change] were to pass tonight, we're going to ensure as stewards that plenty of time and opportunity to make adjustments will be given."
In agreeing that the council could choose not to take up the vote on the zone change at this meeting, Adams warned that the council was on a time clock in terms of making a decision.
"If we don't act within 90 days ... the zoning becomes effective as a matter of law," he said.
Carla Slavey can be reached at cslavey@somerset-kentucky.com
