‘Rock and a hard place.’ Lexington council green-lights 88-home development on south side
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve a zone change that would allow an 88-home development in the Dogwood Trace area off Harrodsburg Road near the Jessamine County line.
The vote came after a nearly three hour public meeting where more than a dozen people spoke against the proposed development.
As a condition of approval, the council required Cowgill Development, the developer of the property, to install an 8 foot fence around the proposed development. The original plans called for a 6-foot privacy fence between the proposed development and existing homes.
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Planning Commission voted 9-0 earlier this year to approve a zone change for nearly 15 acres at 4630 Old Schoolhouse Lane from agricultural urban to an R-3, or high-density residential, zone.
Nick Nicholson, a lawyer for Cowgill, said the proposed 15 acres was in between Dogwood Trace neighborhood and English Station Drive that was never developed.
The city’s comprehensive plan, which guides development, says areas close to major corridors — such as Harrodsburg -— should have increased density. The comprehensive plan also says Lexington needs more diverse housing types, Nicholson said.
Lexington needs more single-family housing, Nicholson said. The R-3 zone would allow for much higher density -- including apartment buildings, townhouses and condominiums. However, Cowgill is proposing a much less intensive use —single-family homes, he said.
“We are activating an underutilized track of agricultural land that is surrounded by neighborhoods,” Nicholson said.
Lot sizes, traffic in question
Neighbors said they weren’t opposed to single-family homes. However, the proposed lot sizes were very small -- 40 feet of frontage. Dogwood Trace, for example, has lot sizes of 100 feet.
The lot sizes of the proposed development should match or come close to matching, several neighbors said.
“The lot sizes need to be bigger,” said Mark Amann, the president of the Dogwood Trace Neighborhood Association.
Nicholson said increasing the lot size by 10 feet could add as much as $30,000 to the overall cost of construction, which would drive up the cost of those homes.
Some neighbors said they wanted the fence that would go around the property to be taller than the six feet originally proposed.
Others said they were concerned the plans called for connection to dead end streets that enter Dogwood Trace -- including connections at Agape Drive and Rhema Way. By allowing the new development to connect to those streets, it will create more traffic into existing neighborhoods.
Mark Sok said more than 520 residents of Dogwood Trace signed a petition asking that the new development not connect to Agape Drive and Rhema Way.
“Safety is a serious concern for our neighborhood,” Sok said.
Lexington Fire Captain Greg Lengal said the city’s subdivision regulations call for connectivity between neighborhoods because of safety concerns. The new subdivision will have 88 new homes. It will need multiple access points for emergency vehicles, he said.
Moreover, Lengal said The Tracery, a large apartment complex off Old Schoolhouse Lane, also needs more connectivity. The Lexington council voted in 2014 to barricade Agape Drive. That meant the Tracery residents have fewer ways in and out in case of an emergency, which is not safe, he said.
Several council members said during Tuesday’s meeting the city’s comprehensive plan and what neighbors want are often at odds. The city’s comprehensive plan calls for more density to allow for more development inside the city’s urban service boundary, which determines where growth can occur.
Yet, neighborhoods consistently ask for less density, said Councilwoman Jennifer Reynolds.
Councilwoman Whitney Elliott Baxter, who represents the Dogwood Trace area, said the developer has proposed the least intensive use on that property for that zone—single-family homes. Yet, neighbors still wanted larger lot sizes to match those in the current neighborhood.
“I am thankful we aren’t here talking about apartments and town homes,” Baxter said. “I represent your wishes. I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.”
The council ultimately agreed not to slash the lot sizes but agreed to require Cowgill to make its perimeter fence taller.
This story was originally published June 22, 2022 at 11:47 AM.
