UK
Students gives 'idea workshop'
on
plans for county
By JOSHUA
COFFMAN
Landmark
News Service
The first forum coincided
with a high school basketball game. The second one was held on
a weekend morning with light snow coating many county roads.
Both times crowds were slightly smaller than organizers had hoped
for. But the third time was a charm for a University of Kentucky
landscape architecture class as it held its third public forum
in the county within the past month.
The 17 students, who are designing a comprehensive plan of recommendations
for future land use in the county, addressed a packed room Thursday
night at the county extension building.
“I’m very happy to see this type of turnout, very
good” said UK professor Brian Lee as he walked around taking
photos of the event. He oversees the class of fifth-year students.
Members of the class gave a 20-minute presentation to explain
some of the ideas the students had come up with after spending
three days in the county in February, touring the community and
talking with residents about what they wanted Owen County to look
like in the next few decades.
After Thursday night’s presentation the students headed
to various tables in the room and sought feedback from the audience
about their proposals in an “idea workshop.” More
than a dozen tables featured an array of maps and drawings showing
different possibilities for the students’ ideas.
Those rough drafts will be used to compile a final report of recommendations
that the students will present to the county late next month.
The proposals focused on at least 14 different areas, from countywide,
regional and national scales, with each subject-specific segment
containing five to 10 different options on which the public gave
feedback.
The students focused on topics such as creating a master plan
for the county; sparking new development in the Sparta area; creating
a bike or automobile touring network that makes a stop in the
county; developing interpretive signage to guide tourists to various
locations; alternative agriculture possibilities; preservation
planning; developing downtown Owenton; small community planning;
developing an Owen County education campus; making improvements
at the 4-H fairgrounds and park; creating a river access point
in Gratz; studying arts scenarios; improving greenery around the
Kentucky River; and creating an outdoor adventure park near Monterey.
Community development
In the group’s main presentation, students discussed options
for growth in the county.
Data used by the class showed a projection that the county will
add, on average, one new housing unit a week during the next 25
years.
One of the targets set by the students was to determine the best
possible location for that growth, and they presented eight possibilities
for dealing with it, based on several scenarios.
The students displayed the eight scenarios — based on various
values such as land preservation, visibility from roadways, among
others — on posterboards and had participants rank them
in a sort of blind taste-test.
During the first forum, students had residents rate their preferences
on similar values — such as agriculture, wildlife, forests,
and lakes and streams, among other categories.
Those values were illustrated best in one of the eight scenarios
presented at Thursday’s forum, but it was unknown which
one fit the match.
The students plan to use the blind taste-test results from Thursday
to compare to results from audience feedback during the first
forum.
Also during the main presentation students discussed entrance
points into the county, noting that restoration of storefronts
and houses in Sparta, plus the addition of campsites and hiking
trails in the northern part of the county, would create a strong
gateway leading into the community from Interstate 71.
The students also discussed options for future development at
the intersection of Kentucky Highways 127 and 22 south of Owenton.
One option for that area includes upgrading landscaping, while
another focuses on mixed-use development, and a third option includes
designs for a large box-style store, such as a Walmart.
The students discussed ways to make Owenton more visible from
Highway 127 by possibly creating a park system looping through
the town or add a new business sector.
One idea considered in the small-community-planning aspect is
to move downtown Monterey out of the Kentucky River flood plain
and creating a waterfront park system closer to the river.
UK student Katie Hardcastle, who is heading the small-community-development
project, said in such a scenario existing roads could be used,
and forest would not have to be cut out.
She said such a project could be done after a future flood or
be done gradually, initiated by individual businesses, before
the next one happens.
The existing space where the town currently lies could be turned
into recreational fields overlooking the river. Possibilities
include adding sculptures to a walking area in a park and creating
horse trails.
Tourism, agriculture and land preservation
One of the larger ideas presented by the class was the possible
creation of an outdoor adventure park on lock three of the Kentucky
River, near Monterey.
The proposed park would provide biking, hiking, kayaking, canoeing
and whitewater rafting; and it would feature green spaces and
amphitheatre seating.
David Kulsveen, the UK student overseeing the proposed project,
said such a park would provide economic stimulation and bring
political attention to environmental concerns on the river. It
would also provide restoration of a habitat for fish in the river.
Kulsveen said the primary concern of those he talked to about
the idea was whether farmers who own the land where he has proposed
the project would give it up.
Nonetheless, “they’re all excited,” he said
of people’s reaction to the proposed park.
Other tourism opportunities discussed included painting murals
on area barns and creating interpretive signs to guide tourists
on various “trails” throughout the county, such as
an arts trail, a barn trail or a tobacco trail.
Possible alternative agricultural activities for the county mentioned
by the group included vineyard expansion, natural beef production,
nursery production and cheese production.
The group also discussed preservation planning. Options for land
preservation they mentioned included adding trees and canopy near
open areas and ponds throughout county.
UK student Chris Hall focused on a regional plan to preserve land
around the Kentucky River and to increase the amount of green
space adjoining the river.
He said, under his proposal, farmers could still own land adjacent
to the river, but land could only be used for canopy or farming.
His regional-scale idea would run along the river in several counties,
aiming to preserve and enhance vegetation for wildlife while exhibiting
the area’s natural features and heritage, he said.
Hall also called for county leaders under such a plan to initiate
a group effort with surrounding counties to hold joint events
and create a park system along the river.
Matt Moore focused on options for the arts community in Owen County.
He said, of two proposed options most popular with those he spoke
to Thursday night, one called for a central hub in the form of
an arts center. The other was a decentralized model that would
create a countywide arts tour.
Recreation possibilities
During the students’ main presentation, ideas included establishing
a Kentucky River National Park running through central and eastern
Kentucky.
Under the plan, various communities would create and market features
and destinations along the riverbanks throughout the park.
Plans presented by the students focused on ecology, culture and
recreation along the river.
UK student Ben Rankin focused on a project to create river access
for boats and build a waterfront park in Gratz.
He said plans are already in works to build a new bridge in Gratz
for vehicles to cross the river.
His plan would use the existing bridge for pedestrians and to
build a terraced park on the riverbank, complete with a boat-launching
ramp and a small docking area.
The park would feature a large lawn area and boast an overlook
that juts out over the river.
“Everyone likes the ideas,” he said of the feedback
he had received. “It’s been good.”
Other recreation projects included making improvements to the
fairgrounds to meet national quality-of-life standards by offering
more ball fields and tennis courts in the county.
Possibilities for the fairgrounds presented included adding a
pool, a walking trail, and constructing overlapping soccer and
baseball/softball fields to cut down on maintenance costs and
free up space at the site.
Other student projects focused on improving the looks of the water
tower by painting a mural on it and establishing a trail system
interlocking the schools.
UK student Blake Cooke displayed ideas from a project he has worked
on that would create a national recreation tour that made a stop
in Owen County or encourage an existing tour to visit.
He noted that the county lies near the middle of where several
existing automobile, bicycle and motorcycle tours already run.
“I’m looking at different ways to draw them here,”
he said.
Addressing public feedback
Hardcastle, who also doubles as a spokeswoman for the group, said
the students were surprised with Thursday’s turnout.
“We were not expecting that many people,” she said.
She said discourse between the students and county residents who
attended was productive.
“People seemed to be really responsive and weren’t
negative,” she said.
Hardcastle said many of the concerns of citizens regarding the
projects focused on cost. “Where is the money going to come
from?” she said many people asked.
Hardcastle noted that the community could take a multitude of
avenues to get funding for projects over the course of time.
“It’s not going to happen overnight,” she said.
But she noted that as more tourism opportunities are established
in the county, the more revenue they would bring in.
“Tourism is going to bring in some of that cost,”
she said. “And that’s what we’re planning for.”
The UK landscape architecture class will present its finalized
recommendations to the community on April 23 at the extension
building.
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