Neighbors:
I received a comprehensive email on May 12, 2025, from Walt Gaffield, president of the Fayette County Neighborhood Council. I’ve taken the liberty to summarize it here for your review.
Addison Hosea, President, ELNA
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- Council to Discuss Development Plans: The Urban County Council will have a work session on Tuesday, May 13th at 3:00 p.m. to talk about a proposal related to House Bill 443. (See https://www.lexingtonky.gov/calendar/2025-05-13/council-work-session for the agenda.) This bill could change how development plans are approved, potentially reducing public input.
- FCNC wants the public to have a say in these plans.
- Legal staff believe HB 443 doesn’t allow for public input.
- Local state legislators disagree and say the public should be involved.
- The Council is currently undecided.
- The Lexington Planning Commission wants more public participation.
- The Lexington Chamber of Commerce opposes adding new requirements for development plans.
- FCNC believes the proposed ordinance is needed to prevent developers from having too much freedom.
- Public Comment: You can comment on this topic before the Tuesday meeting; each person gets 3 minutes.
- BUILD Receives Support: A local church group, BUILD (Build a United Interfaith Lexington through Direct-action, https://www.buildlex.org/), received support from the city government for several initiatives:
- Studying micro-transit to help people who need individual transportation.
- Exploring the “Villages” model to help seniors stay in their homes, with meetings planned this summer.
- Sharing rental property data with the University of Kentucky to improve living conditions for renters.
- Recovery House Regulations: The Council is working on rules for recovery houses, especially in neighborhoods north of Main Street that are seeing more of these homes and related issues. Federal law protecting people with disabilities will make finding solutions challenging.
- New Downtown Master Plan: The city has hired a firm called MKSK to create a new Downtown Master Plan for $500,000.
- The plan will cover land use, connections to nearby areas, economic development, housing, and downtown boundaries.
- It will focus on including the voices of underserved communities.
- FCNC will recommend people from downtown neighborhoods for the 15-person advisory committee.