KWG, a new gun store planned for the west side of Daviess County, cleared a small hurdle Thursday and is another step closer to being built. A handful of citizens recently expressed concerns about the development, but Fiscal Court approved the Owensboro Metropolitan Planning Commission’s recommendation to rezone the property.
Owensboro Times broke the news about the new gun store in February, when owners Luke Kuegel and Chris Whittaker discussed their plans to build a unique shop that will offer upwards of 2,000 guns.
KWG will be located on Worthington Road next to the Kuegel family’s farm shop. The building — a 7,200-square-foot pole barn — will sit about a quarter-mile off KY 56 on Worthington Road, across from Wyndcrest Drive. Worthington Road is across from Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline, just west of the roundabout that connects KY 56, KY 81, and West Parrish Avenue.
An application was filed with OMPC on January 9 to rezone the property from A-U Urban Agricultural to B-4 General Business.
Records show that Teresa Rybicki, a neighboring land owner, voiced concerns about traffic and drainage during the February 8 OMPC meeting and that those concerns were addressed by attorneys Charles Kamuf, Sr. and Williams Kuegel, Jr. The OMPC recommended approval of the rezoning on February 8.
An OMPC recommendation becomes final after 21 days unless an aggrieved person requests that a legislative body make the final decision on the rezoning application.
Eight such requests, including one by Rybicki, were filed on February 26. The Daviess County Fiscal Court heard the first reading of an ordinance during their April 11 meeting.
Commissioner Chris Castlen said during that meeting his primary concern was the property was in the floodplains. County Engineer Steve Brasher said the land should be fit to combat any flooding through a retention basin and that “they exceed the one-to-one mitigation, meaning they take out more than they put into the floodplain.”
Commissioner Larry Conder wanted to ensure the property owners would commit to helping with any plumbing issues that may arise. Luke Kuegel said they “are totally willing and committed to solving the water issue around it” because it affects the standing buildings that his family already has in the area.
Rybicki again expressed her concerns about traffic during the Aprill 11 meeting, this time directly to the Fiscal Court.
Assistant Director of Planning Melissa Evans said on April 11 that the project’s nature is not projected to boost traffic flow in the area to the point where a traffic impact study is necessary. Brasher’s team also agreed that traffic shouldn’t be boosted to reach the threshold.
After taking 2 weeks to consider all the facts and opinions, Fiscal Court heard the second reading of the ordinance at their April 25 meeting.
There were four conditions laid out in the ordinance:
- The applicant shall install and maintain lighting in a manner to ensure it will not have adversely impacted the adjoining neighborhood or Worthington Road traffic as determined by the Daviess County Property Maintenance Code official or other county employee designated by the Judge-Executive.
- Applicant shall restrict the use of the subject property to use as primarily or principally permitted in a B-4 general business zone with the exception of the following: motel or hotel; amusements that are indoor; amusements that are outdoor; recreational activities indoor; cocktail lounges; nightclubs; any assembly business and or mercantile uses deemed to be adult entertainment establishments; pawn shops; convenience stores with or without fuel stations; big box home improvement retailers; vehicle racetracks; vehicle service fuel stations with or without convenience stores; car washes, self serve or automatic; parking lots or structures; pet grooming; pet trade; commercial kennel; vehicle body shop; cemetery mausoleum; columbarium; crematory; public utility facilities, not otherwise permitted and bus terminals.
- If a change in use is proposed different from the originally submitted traffic statement uses, an amended development plan must be submitted to the planning commission and county engineer.
- Applicants shall include covenants and deeds or leases, which require current and future property owners to properly maintain detention bases and ditches that are part of the rezoned property.
Commissioner Chris Castlen approved the new conditions to mediate between the two parties.
“I feel like with these conditions, it helps us to compromise and make sure that the business is accepted as it should be with the help of Planning and Zoning and what their investigations and findings from the original timeline, but also for the neighbors in the area,” Castlen said.
Commissioner Janie Marksberry made a motion to strike the second condition, saying it restricts the private property owner’s rights to operate a business of their choosing.
“It’s certainly within the land owners’ rights to develop business on land that has been rezoned to commercial zoning and to open it up to any business that would be allowed in that zoning. I don’t believe Fiscal Court or Planning and Zoning should have the right to pick and choose out of the list of approved B-4 zones what can go in there and what cannot, based on the business model. So I will always vote for private property rights,” Marksberry said.
Commissioner Larry Conder seconded the motion.
“I believe the same thing. I know that all of these conditions, I believe, are in agreement with the property owner. Which is great. That is a good thing to do. But for us to continue to prevent people or to tell them, within the law that is stated, what to do with their property is a little problematic,” Conder said.
Charlie Caslten said though he has a long history of supporting property rights, he understands the reasoning.
“The reason we have planning and zoning in our community is because it is as much to protect the rights of those who are already there as it is to make sure that things that develop don’t end up harming a neighbor,” Castlen said.
He also noted that the conditions came from a desire to create an environment in which, should the business close or the space be empty, the business that follows will not be one on that list.
Marksberry and Conder voted to strike the condition, while Charlie Castlen and Chris Castlen voted against the motion — meaning it failed.
Fiscal Court then unanimously approved the ordinance with all four additional conditions for the property.
When Kuegel and Whittaker first spoke to OT about opening the gun store, they said the inventory will set KWG apart from other retailers within a day’s drive.
“My friends and I have traveled down to Bowling Green or Greenville to shop for guns. Within an hour’s radius, you’ll pull that market easily because that’s a day trip,” Kuegel said. “… But Bowling Green’s store concentrates mostly on tactical and Greenville concentrates mostly on hunting. We’re looking to combine that into a one-stop shop.”
The owners said they plan to stock about 1,500-2,000 guns.
“From a $200 gun to a $10,000 gun, we plan on having it all,” Whittaker said. “Maybe not in the beginning, but we plan on doing the whole gambit. We want somebody to walk in here and be able to find anything they want to find. And if we don’t have it in stock, we’ll be able to order it.”
They’ll also sell ammo, holsters, reloading equipment, components, and more.
