E'town donates land, receives donation

Monday’s city council meeting in Elizabethtown leaned heavily on land transactions, be they donations or fulfillment of a long-established agreement.

City officials approved donation of two properties on East Railroad Avenue to Hardin County Habitat for Humanity while accepting several acres of land in the city as a gift.

Planning Director Ed Poppe said the donated lots, 211 and 215 E. Railroad Ave., are vacant and worth $8,000 to $10,000 each. The city donated the property at no cost to Hardin County Habitat for construction of single-family homes.

Scott Turner, director of Hardin County Habitat for Humanity, said the land offers the size to build multiple homes and he believes ground will be broken on new houses in March and April.

Turner said the organization is in the process of finishing its seventh home in the neighborhood and its 47th home in the county. Once finished, Hardin County Habitat aims to count 10 homes in the Haycraft neighborhood among its ranks, Turner said.

Poppe said the city holds a partnership with Hardin County Habitat dating back 15 years or more with more than 20 lots donated to the organization through the years. Poppe said the donation assists the organization but also yields benefits for the city by finding a use for the land and improving the overall look of the Haycraft neighborhood.

Following the donation, the city accepted roughly six acres of property in the Skyline Heights neighborhood from Glenn and Sandra Turner. The acquisition will give the city more control over stormwater in the area with full management of Routt Basin, Poppe said. The property falls within the area designated for the Towne Drive extension to Veterans Way.

To honor an agreement struck with First Baptist Church in the late 1980s, the council approved the transfer of property in the Glendale Hill neighborhood to the church for roughly $2,400. The sale comes after the closure of a right-of-way along Green Lane. Poppe said the church gains access to both the right-of-way and a lot next to the church on Bishop Lane with the purchase. The church has expressed plans to use the property in an expansion of its parking lot, Poppe said.

Elizabethtown City Council also weighed in on renaming Ky. 361 — often referred to as the Elizabethtown-to-Radcliff Connector (E2RC) — to Patriot Parkway. The name was recommended by the Radcliff/Elizabethtown Metropolitan Planning Organization after it reviewed other options, such as Cardinal Drive/Boulevard, Warrior Way, Old Glory Parkway and Unity Way.

Mayor Tim Walker said Cardinal Drive will retain its name from Woodland Drive to the Elizabethtown Bypass once the road opens. The name must still gain approval from Hardin County government and Radcliff City Council, Walker said.

Marty Finley can be reached at (270) 505-1762 or mfinley@thenewsenterprise.com.