A proposed luxury apartment complex between Florence and Union is gaining traction. Florence is in support, citing the area’s need for more housing — but Union is opposed to the scale of the project, worried about increased traffic congestion and safety concerns.
If it’s built, developers are planning for 340 luxury apartment homes with a total of 611 parking spaces. Apartments would range from studio to 2 bedroom/2 bathroom size, with rent from $1,450 to $2,850 a month. This housing is meant to appeal to both the working class and retirees, or “empty-nesters,” as stated in the application, who “desire a maintenance-free and resort-style living experience.”
Florence has been working with the developer on a proposed industrial revenue bond — which would place the city financially responsible loans on the project and offset cost for developers. But their role in the application process is limited.
“The City’s role is limited to reviewing the proposal, providing comments within our jurisdiction, and participating in the public review process established under Kentucky law,” said City Administrator Joshua Hunt in an email to WVXU.
But the project has some high-profile opponents, including the city of Union’s leadership and Kentucky State Representative Marianne Proctor, whose district includes most of Florence and all of Union.
“It doesn't fit with Union,” Proctor said. “It's significantly more dense, which changes the character of the city, and we like to keep Union — the way that it is ‘Uniquely Union’ — we have building guidelines for that reason.”
Ultimately, the decision will be up to the Boone County Planning Commission, which will have to decide whether to grant the zoning change. The commission is holding a public hearing on the project on Aug. 5.
‘Woefully equipped’
The development is between Bowman Way, a road owned by the city of Florence, and Old Union Road, which is the property of the city of Union. Originally, the plan was to use Bowman Way as the development’s main entrance and exit, but have a secondary access at Old Union for emergency vehicles. Union blocked that proposal.
“Old Union Road is woefully equipped to handle that type of traffic,” said Mayor Larry Solomon. “Union owns Old Union Road, and we do not believe that that traffic would be beneficial to our streets.”
Now, Bowman Way will be the sole entry and exit point. But that didn’t end traffic concerns. Longbranch Road is right next to the development, and even without 340 new apartments that area has been at the center of community safety concerns.
In February, Judge Executive Gary Moore told the fiscal court the county had applied for a federal transportation grant to address safety concerns near Orleans Boulevard, which sits next to the site for the development in the city of Florence’s application. But the U.S. Department of Transportation did not select Boone County for the grant.
The county is also building a roundabout at the intersection of Longbranch Road and Camp Ernst Road to address safety concerns. Construction began earlier this month.
Hunt said the proposed development won’t interfere with future plans to connect Longbranch Road and Bowman Way. But he stressed that the existing plan is sufficient to handle the extra traffic.
Solomon disagrees. He’s worried the intersection at Bowman Way and U.S. 42 is already problematic; and Boone County Public schools is set to convert a vacant Kroger into a preschool opening in 2027.
“All of the school buses there, and then you add in the 300 to 400 vehicles that the project is going to generate,” he said.
A traffic study from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet submitted with the application made recommendations for necessary road changes and traffic light adjustments if the development is built. They recommended lane changes on Braxton Drive at the intersection of U.S. 42and new signal timing at Bowman Way and the highway.
‘Misinformation has spread’
Now, local residents are organizing on social media, encouraging people to attend the planning and zoning meeting.
Hunt said he feels the opposition is driven by misinformation around the project itself — especially after he learned of an AI-generated rendering being circulated.
“Every applicant deserves a fair hearing based upon facts, engineering, planning principles, and the evidence contained in the public record, not AI-generated graphics, misinformation, political pressure, or attempts to influence the process outside the statutory framework,” Hunt wrote.
He also said he feels the opposition from Union is stemming from a jurisdictional dispute between the two cities. While the development’s land is unincorporated, the developers are proposing to be annexed by Florence if the zoning amendments are passed.
“People can draw their own conclusions, but from any reasonable perspective this increasingly appears to be less about the planning merits of the proposal and more about a jurisdictional dispute that arose after the developer chose to pursue annexation into Florence rather than Union,” Hunt wrote.
Solomon said this isn’t about politics, but rather about the scale of the project. He said he would not be opposed to working with developers, Florence and Boone County on another type of development in the future.
“Those two pieces of property, in our opinion, cannot handle 340 units,” Solomon said. “If there was another less density project there that would fall within our town plan guidelines, and then we would be happy to work with them on it.”
The Boone County Planning Commission will meet on Wednesday, Aug. 5, at 7:30 p.m. to discuss the project.
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