Examples of the topics that will be discussed at the Joint City-County Planning Commission public meeting on June 24 from 6-8 p.m. Graphic made by Glasgow News 1
By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
Residents of Glasgow and Barren County will get a chance to hear, and provide input, on two incoming housing initiatives.
Both initiatives — one proposed and one soon-to-be in effect — will necessitate Barren County’s Joint City-County Planning Commission to rewrite parts of its zoning regulations, and that is the purpose of the public meeting scheduled for 6 to 7:30 p.m. on June 24 in the Glasgow City Council Chambers on the second floor of the Luska J. Twyman Municipal Building.
“The Joint City-County Planning Commission will be holding a public meeting…for an open meeting forum discussion of the Urban & Infill Housing Initiative (small lot(s) development) for Glasgow as well as discussion of the new state regulations for Qualified Manufactured Homes,” the commission states. “This is a call for any developers, builders, realtors, land owners and others that have a desire or interest in shaping the residential development of Glasgow for future generations.”
As previously reported, the Urban and Infill initiative was proposed to further utilize smaller lots that are below the minimum set forth in the Glasgow zoning regulations, which states that a medium density residential district requires a minimum lot size of 7,500 sq. ft. for one unit, 11,000 sq. ft. for two, 14,500 sq. ft. for three and 18,500 sq. ft. for four units.
“What has happened during time is lots have gotten bigger because homes have gotten bigger…so we have an abundant amount of lots that [are smaller than the minimum lot size], the technical term is ‘existing, nonconforming lots,'” Planning Director Kevin Myatt said previously. “We’re trying to write an initiative here that would allow an individual to not only be able to put a single-family home there, but a non-traditional style duplex on that property.”
The first public meeting was held on Feb. 27.
What may be unfamiliar to most residents is the changes outlined in Kentucky House Bill 160, which was signed into law by Governor Andy Beshear on April 1. The soon-to-be law states “affordable housing through qualified manufactured homes serves an essential public purpose.”
With the new language in the amended statute, a qualified manufactured home is one “affixed to a permanent foundation,” has a width of at least 20 feet at its smallest width measurement or be two stories, oriented so that the door is facing the street, is manufactured “on a date not to exceed 5 years prior to installation” and have a living area no less than 900 square feet.
Myatt added that qualified manufactured homes must have a “B1” seal, signifying they were inspected by a state fire marshal, and a certified installer seal.
The part where it gets “super muddy, ” according to Myatt, is in its language and caveats in regulating qualified manufactured homes which prohibits local governments from having any regulation or ordinance that “excludes [them] from any residential zone where single-family residences are permitted [or] discriminates against qualified manufactured homes.” At the same time, however, local governments can enforce compatibility standards that “have a significant impact on the overall assessed value” including roof pitch, livable space square footage, type and quality of exterior finishing materials and setbacks.
Myatt said that can make things “extremely vague” with regards to who would make the call that a qualified manufactured home is “compatible, in terms of assessed value, with existing houses locate in a one-eighth mile radius.”
Glasgow’s, Cave City’s and Park City’s zoning regulations have specifics regarding qualified manufactured homes, Myatt said, which means they will have to be modified due to the statute’s amendment rendering “any zoning regulation, ordinance, or requirement that violates [these amendments] is void and unenforceable.”
This new language goes into effect on July 1, 2026.
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