Anybody who has driven Longbranch Road in Boone County lately knows how much the Union area has grown. Fischer Homes wants to add a lot more. The builder is asking the county to rezone an old family farm next to its Ballyshannon subdivision for 687 new homes, a project it's calling Cloverlin.
According to LINK nky's report from the Oct. 7 Boone County Planning Commission meeting, Grand Communities, a Fischer Homes subsidiary, is seeking to change just over 78 acres from agricultural zoning to suburban residential one with a planned development overlay. The land sits off Longbranch Road, next to the Ballyshannon and Woodvale developments.
The plan calls for 460 condos, 103 paired patio homes and 124 townhomes.
The pitch
Greg Fischer, the company's chair, made the case himself. "While it is an independent submittal and zoning, it is part of the broader context of the community that we've built," he said. "We love this location. Our customers love this location."
Cloverlin would come in at 8.77 units per acre. Fischer's presentation said that, combined with Ballyshannon, the overall density would land between 3 and 4 units per acre. He put the starting price for the condos at about $220,000, with the other units at about $320,000, and said the company hopes to start building next year. He also pointed to more tax revenue, more housing and new jobs.
Those prices land in a region that badly needs them. The 2025 Home for All: Northern Kentucky Housing Strategies report found a teacher earning the median $43,740 a year can afford only 26% of the region's rentals and 16% of its for-sale homes. For a restaurant server, or an older person living on Social Security, only about 1% of the region's rentals are affordable.
The hurdles
The biggest sticking point is schools. Ballyshannon Middle School sits in the middle of the subdivision, and the district has been redrawing boundaries. Kim Best, an assistant superintendent for Boone County Schools, wrote that Ballyshannon now has room because of redistricting, but that Longbranch is at capacity. "If it is planned for 2030 or after, then there will be capacity to support new developments," she wrote. The school board voted last week not to redistrict students out of Longbranch.
"For a lot of the commission, that's the issue — is the school," said Planning Commission Chair Charlie Rolfsen. "Especially if you have children, you don't want your children being bused."
County Planner Steve Lilly raised more concerns. He said much of the open space in the plan would be inaccessible, and that while Fischer Homes is completing a traffic impact study, the data available so far likely isn't enough to understand the effect on traffic. The plan would also create nine new intersections on Shamrock Drive, which is already classified as a limited access road. And Lilly noted that "the alignment for the future Camp Ernst Road is not approved yet," something the Union Fire District had flagged.
Several neighbors spoke against the project, citing traffic, density, affordability, schools and the environment. No residents spoke in favor.
The planning commission's zoning change subcommittee is set to take up the request later this month, and the full commission is scheduled to vote on a recommendation at its Nov. 4 meeting.
One note on disclosure: Greg Fischer sits on LINK nky's managing board, which oversees the outlet's business side but has no say in editorial matters.
Why it matters for Contractors
If Cloverlin moves forward, it's close to 700 attached and paired units on one site, a long run of work for excavation, underground utilities, concrete, framing, roofing, siding, MEP, drywall and finish trades. Subs who already work Fischer's other communities, including Ballyshannon next door, are best placed, and others should be getting in front of the company's purchasing people now.
Keep an eye on the timing, though. Schools, traffic and the Camp Ernst Road alignment could slow the project or reshape the phasing, and the Nov. 4 vote is only a recommendation; the final say comes later. Whatever happens, the pressure for housing at the $220,000 to $320,000 price point isn't going away in Boone County, and that's where steady work for contractors will be.