Six attached townhomes priced between $425,000 and $500,000 could join the Pinnacle of Fort Mitchell development on Grandview Drive after Kenton County planning staff recommended approval of the project.

The Kenton County Planning Commission (KCPC) will hold a public hearing on the proposal at 6:15 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, at the Kenton County Government Center, 1840 Simon Kenton Way, Covington. The hearing is open to the public.

Greg Berling, applying on behalf of Fort Summit LLC, filed the map amendment request to rezone about half an acre on the east side of Grandview Drive from Business Park to Planned Unit Development (PUD). A second parcel of about 0.36 acres at the northeast corner of Grandview Drive and Pinnacle Peak Way, already zoned PUD, would get a revised concept plan. Four of the six homes would go on the rezoned lot and two on the existing PUD parcel.

Andy Videkovich, director of Planning and Development Services of Kenton County, signed the favorable staff recommendation on Thursday, Sept. 24. Staff called the proposal a logical extension of the existing PUD that aligns with the adopted comprehensive plan.

The homes would be three-bedroom units with an optional fourth bedroom, each about 1,853 square feet with nine-foot first-floor ceilings and modern farmhouse and American farmhouse exterior options. Floor plans in the staff report identify them as part of the Fischer Homes "Sonder" townhome collection.

If approved, the full Pinnacle of Fort Mitchell PUD would grow to 12.85 acres with 54 total dwelling units and 48 percent open space, well above the 30 percent PUD minimum. Net density would be 4.78 units per acre.

The site where the four new units would sit previously held a single-family home that has been removed. Phase one of the Pinnacle development to the east already contains occupied and under-construction townhomes.

The homes would not meet two of the county's five income-aligned housing benchmarks; a third, on rental affordability, doesn't apply because the units are for sale. At $425,000 to $500,000, the units exceed what median-income households can afford, and none count toward the county's target for smaller studio, one-bedroom or two-bedroom units. Staff did find the project contributes toward the county's annual goal of 550 new housing units and sits in a location near jobs and infrastructure.

The Pinnacle site has a long planning history. Fort Mitchell's city council rejected earlier proposals for 106 apartments in 2019 and an 88-unit senior housing building in 2021, both after the KCPC gave favorable recommendations. The commission and the city both approved the current 48-unit PUD plan in February 2022, when Berling appeared before the commission and said his firm wanted the development to succeed, according to meeting minutes.

Plans also call for four-foot sidewalks along Grandview Drive and coordination with Fort Mitchell on a possible crosswalk.

No public transit routes currently serve the site.

If the commission recommends approval, the Fort Mitchell City Council would then vote on the map amendment. No council meeting date for that vote has been announced. Residents can review the full staff report on the KCPC agenda posted online.