Home builders say Lexington’s new growth plan is illegal. Now they’re suing.
A home builders group wants a Fayette Circuit judge to throw out the recently-approved 2018 Comprehensive Plan alleging the plan goes too far, will be too costly for builders to implement and exceeds what state law says comprehensive plans can require.
In a lawsuit filed in Fayette Circuit Court on Friday, the Home Builders Association of Lexington alleges the plan that guides development over the next five years is “legally invalid and its application to land use decisions in Lexington-Fayette County should be enjoined.”
The home builders want a judge to stop implementation and enforcement of the plan immediately until the lawsuit challenging the plan is resolved.
The home builders association is also known as the Building Industry Association of Central Kentucky.
Susan Straub, a spokeswoman for the city, said the city does not comment on pending lawsuits.
In a statement released Tuesday, the builders group said it had offered several amendments to the proposed 2018 Comprehensive Plan during the months it was discussed but those changes were ultimately not adopted.
“ The BIA offered amendments to the proposed Plan to address many of the conflicts; however, the majority of the Planning Commission voted to reject the amendments and adopted a Comprehensive Plan which the BIA believes to be unlawful in many respects as described in the lawsuit,” the statement said.
The 2018 Comprehensive Plan was approved by the Urban County Planning Commission in February. It included a provision called Placebuilder. Placebuilder will be used to determine what types of development can go where in Fayette County. Developers and builders pushed back against Placebuilder at the time it was being discussed, saying it was too vague and too restrictive.
To get a change in zoning — for example from residential to commercial — developers must prove the zone change is in agreement with the comprehensive plan.
The home builders allege the elements of Placebuilder exceeds what state law says can be required in a Comprehensive Plan.
For example, the lawsuit alleges that any multifamily development—such as apartment complexes — have to comply with a check list that includes types and color of materials, the size and number of windows and porch and balcony designs. Yet, state law says local governments can only impose architectural or visual requirements in areas that are deemed historic, the lawsuit says.
Placebuilder contains 27 different land use categories. Each of these 27 categories contain 36 to 72 development criteria that must be addressed before a zone change is granted. Those development criteria are not required for a zone change under state law, the builders say. Moreover, the 2018 Comprehensive Plan does not provide a coherent land use plan that is required under state law.
“The Plan contains no indication of ‘what should go where’ inside the Urban Service Area,” the lawsuit alleges.
Named in the lawsuit is the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Planning Commission and its 11 volunteer members.
City planners have previously said Placebuilder is not too vague and the city had made several tweaks and changes to Placebuilder as it was being developed. It offers greater flexibility for developers, planners had previously argued.
The lawsuit comes less than a month after a last-minute amendment to a state Senate bill was filed that opponents said could radically alter how local governments decide comprehensive plans. Sen. Jared Carpenters, R-Berea, ultimately pulled the amendment
This story was originally published April 1, 2019 at 12:35 PM.