St. Matthews Apartment Complex Clears BOZA on 5-1 Vote as Neighbors Protest Setback Cut

Louisville's Board of Zoning Adjustment pushed through a packed nine-item agenda March 16, headlined by a contentious fight over how close a 199-unit apartment project can park cars to neighboring backyards in St. Matthews. The board also overrode staff on three requests to greenlight a custom-designed sustainable home on a historic Barret Avenue estate lot, denied a gas station's request for a sign more than four times the legal height, and approved a new 20-bed rehabilitation facility on West Broadway with no opposition.

• 199-unit St. Matthews apartment complex wins contested 5-1 vote to place parking 10 feet from neighboring homes instead of the required 30 feet

• Board overrides staff on three of four requests for a custom two-unit residence on a 19th-century Barret Avenue estate lot

• Shell station's 26-foot sign request unanimously denied on Dixie Highway as board finds no hardship

• 20-bed rehabilitation home approved at 1300 W. Broadway to fill a treatment gap in west Louisville

• Transitional home operator faces April public hearing after running without required licensing for years

The basics: Gilmans Pointe LLC asked the board to slash the required 30-foot rear yard setback to 10 feet for a surface parking lot behind a 199-unit apartment complex at 4101 Westport Road in St. Matthews. The 7.4-acre site, zoned R7/CN, is one of the last large undeveloped parcels in the city.