The second Kentucky Housing Task Force meeting heard concerns from local officials, including Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory.
Senator Robby Mills, a co-chair of the task force, said the task force’s purpose is not to enter the next session with legislation but rather to hear about housing issues from across the commonwealth, from rural areas to large cities.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said there is a “critical shortage of housing in Jefferson County.”
“We need as many new units of housing as exist in Mayor Gregory’s city of Elizabethtown,” Greenberg told the task force on Monday.
The issue in the state’s largest city is the area to develop; Louisville is “quite literally” running out of ground in Jefferson County. To build 15,000 homes, Greenberg said the city needs some 3,100 acres of land.
“In Jefferson County, we don’t have 3,100 acres of land, so we must find other solutions to solve the housing shortage,” Greenberg said.
Yet, there is an increasing housing gap, which has grown from 31,000 units five years ago to the 36,000 units needed today.
With a lack of land and significant unit needs, Greenberg and his administration are looking towards density, including the use of vacant downtown office buildings, townhomes, duplexes, and triplexes.
Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory also testified on the need for additional housing, especially considering the Blue Oval electric battery plant, which is located in Hardin County. The issues in Elizabethtown mirror those in some other communities, with a need for additional infrastructure.
Elizabethtown is also seeing an increase in land costs. Much of the land contiguous to the city was affordable at a rate of $5,000 to $6,000 per acre before the pandemic, but it is now selling for upwards of $25,000 to $30,000 per acre.
Elizabethtown is also working on density to provide more housing and make the community walkable.
The Kentucky League of Cities Board of Directors has voted to engage on the important topic of housing and be prepared to be a primary participant in conversations regarding the housing shortage. KLC supports housing policies that ensure land use laws and planning and zoning regulations are made at the local level so that they are based on both local goals and values. KLC opposes any effort to preempt or mandate outcomes in local land use decisions and supports local policies that create additional housing options that reflect local values and goals and will leverage state programs and funding to move forward more quickly.
The next Housing Task Force meeting will take place on August 26.
