LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Members of the public shared their thoughts on a new proposal that would vastly expand Lexington’s urban service boundary at a city council public hearing Tuesday.
The proposal would mean 5,000 more acres of land in the county would become developable. Most of the expanded area is located between Winchester Road and Royster Road. Another large patch is near the I-75, Athens-Boonesboro Road interchange.
The current boundary encompasses 54,000 acres in the city and was last expanded more than 20 years ago.
In essence, the boundary allows for traditional development on the inside, closer to downtown, while protecting horse farms on the outside.
Three main groups came out with the proposal: Commerce Lexington, Lexington for Everyone, and the Building Association of Central Kentucky.
Expansion advocates say the current location of the boundary is bad for business and is preventing additional housing from being built because there isn’t enough room left on the inside of the boundary.
“The reality is the reality,” said Commerce Lexington President Bob Quick. “There is less than 4 percent of vacant, developable land inside the Urban Service Area.”
But, according to Brittany Roethemeier, the executive director of the Fayette Alliance — who opposes the proposal, there are a total of 6,000 vacant acres of land inside of the Urban Service Boundary. She said that number is according to research from city consultant and planning staff.
That equates to 11% of land being vacant inside the boundary, not the less than four that Quick had mentioned.
“They found land inside the Urban Service Boundary will serve our housing needs for the next 20 years,” Roethemeier said.
She said the proposal bypasses a framework the city has been workshopping that would specifically guide the city through deciding by how much, where, and when the urban service boundary should be expanded.
