January 14, 2023
Issue #1, January 2023
Dear Neighbors,
Welcome to 2023 from the Fayette County Neighborhood Council. FCNC is beginning the year with a listing of thoughts and issues for making neighborhoods better. These are issues that we expect to be taken up by our LFUCG Council.
ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS (ADUs) should be under discussion in Council again in late Spring. The Planning Division reported only five (5) ADUs are new and in place since the passage of the ADU Ordinance a year ago. FCNC expects a strong push to remove restrictions on ADU development, particularly to allow the construction of new detached ADUs in backyards.
An effort to LICENSE SHORT-TERM RENTALS (Airbnb, VRBO, etc.) in residential areas is currently under way. FCNC believes that short-term rentals (STRs) contribute to gentrification, higher housing prices, and noisy parties, and thus, licensing is past due. Louisville requires that STRs be at least 600 feet apart and considers citizen complaints before issuing or turning down a license request. Covington requires hearings for license requests.
PUBLIC AND NEIGHBORHOOD ENGAGEMENT is a growing problem. Under COVID restrictions, a number of neighborhood organizations became less organized and nonfunctional. At the same time, government is becoming less responsive to neighborhood concerns through the use of Zoning Ordinance Text Amendments to make major zone changes without adequate notice to neighborhoods or individuals.
The 2023 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN is in process and will impact development for the next 20 years. It will include provisions for expanding the Lexington’s Urban Services Boundary (or not), expanding Accessory Dwelling Unit development and use through reduced regulation, growing public transit, and increasing housing density and property uses in neighborhoods.
Ongoing problems include AFFORDABLE HOUSING, POVERTY, JOBS, THE JUSTICE SYSTEM, AND RACISM. Neighborhoods need to organize and work together. The issue is how to protect neighborhoods and make them better while also working to help people equitably.
The “Group 4 Committee” has made recommendations for WHERE LEXINGTON’S URBAN SERVICES BOUNDARY MIGHT EXPAND AND HOW MUCH. The expansion map in the recommendations does not prioritize areas for expansion and does not fully assess soil, agricultural use, PDR properties. or infrastructure. Considerable planning and work are still necessary. One of the major concerns for neighborhoods will be that any growth outside the USB should have adequate sewage treatment infrastructure to keep sewage out of basements and Lexington streams. The Consent Decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is projected to end in 2025 or 2026. However, some of the provisions in the Consent Decree will need to stay in place.
At the State Level, some members of the Kentucky General Assembly have been discussing whether to REQUIRE LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO BECOME PARTISAN and have candidates for local government offices campaign as Republicans or Democrats. FCNC has always supported the Charter of the Urban County Government and a nonpartisan Council and Mayor.
We will be sending you a “save the date” email for 2023. The first general meeting of 2023 is expected to be on the evening of Monday, February 13. Please save the date. We will verify it in the near future.
Stay involved with your neighborhood and make it better. Organize. If you need help, contact FCNC at fayetteneighborhoods. I hope to see everyone soon.
Walt Gaffield, President
Fayette County Neighborhood Council, Inc.
Emailed by Janet Cabaniss, FCNC Secretary
jcabaniss
