Lawrence County, Kentucky

by-sides to be ridden out to the trail. Kentucky passed Senate Bill 75 permitting off-road vehicle use on roadways, allowing Lawrence County to directly benefit. A little closer to home, and just adjacent from the Yatesville State Park, is the Lawrence County Wilderness Park with 80-acres of scenic woods. “I will say I think we have a county park that is comparable with any state park,” proclaims Vince Doty, Deputy Judge/ Executive. “We have cabins, RV sites, primitive camping, a general store, frisbee golf, a putt putt golf course, kayaking, and even pedal boats.” While there is much to be positive about, it hasn’t been the easiest year for the region. This past winter, over the span of two weeks, Lawrence County endured two natural disasters. The first was a major ice storm with the county declaring a state of emergency on February 11 because residents were without power. While still recovering, the Big Sandy River severely flooded reaching levels it hadn’t since 1977. Unfortunately, the flood affected many areas of the county including the water and sewer LAWRENCE COUNTY , KENTUCKY facilities located on the river. As a community, Lawrence County pulled through, as shown by the successful clean-up and recovery efforts. Both of which are going well, and the community is looking forward to better times ahead. Slone’s goal for the City of Louisa is to “revise our long-term plans to include housing. If we’re going to grow, we need housing.” He would also like to reassess more walkability and bike access. “Anything improving quality of life; making people want to stay. Developing more places to bring in industry and businesses to the city too.” Regarding the county, Doty shares, “The goal is to create more spaces and activities for families and kids. As the Mayor said, attracting more people to come here, while giving them something to make them stay. COVID has proven that you don’t have to live where you work. If we don’t have the businesses here yet, we’ll give them something to want to locate here. We have a beautiful county and it’s nothing but positivity going forward.”