This 1890s livery will soon become an event space in downtown Lexington
A former 1890s carriage house between Short and West Second streets will soon become an event and banquet space.
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council voted Tuesday to approve zone changes for the now-vacant property at 171 Saunier Street from a high density apartment zone to a B2 zone, a downtown business zone. The building was built sometime between 1890 and 1896.
“It acted as a livery up until a few years ago,” said Hal Baillie, a senior planner with the city. “The Lexington police used it as their livery until they moved their operations to Coolavin Park.”
The Clifton LLC, the developer, plans to add a covered patio to the back of the building that fronts Saunier and will renovate and upgrade a smaller building at the back of the property, planners said.
The Urban County Planning Commission voted to approve approve the zone change at an Aug. 22 meeting. Lack of parking and rowdy neighbors were a top concern of neighboring businesses and residents. The commission agreed to prohibit some businesses, such as automobile repair shops, nightclubs, day shelters and outdoor live entertainment as a condition of the zone change approval.
The commission also restricted the event space from operating past midnight on Friday and Saturday nights. Events can’t go past 11 p.m. on weekdays and 10 p.m. on Sundays.
Still, officials with nearby Milward Funeral Directors raised concerns about the zone change during Tuesday’s council meeting.
“There is a lot of pressure on those parking lots already,” said Mary Gatewood, a funeral director with Millward. Gatewood spoke on behalf of Bob Milward, who could not attend Tuesday’s meeting.
With the exception of allowing a little league to rent its North Broadway parking lot as a fundraiser, Milward has always let the public use its parking lots for free, Gatewood said. The funeral home is concerned that people who attend events at 171 Saunier will try to use the funeral home lot and will not park in the designated parking on Short and Mill streets.
Nick Nicholson, a lawyer for Clifton LLC, said they will tell patrons coming to events at 171 Saunier where to park. “We have expressed to (nearby) Saint Peter and Paul and Milwards that we will tell guests not to park in those lots,” he told the council.
It’s not clear when renovation on the structure will begin.
This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 9:53 AM.
