Lexington planning commission makes major changes to growth area, adds key interchange
The Lexington planning commission made some major changes to a proposed expansion of the city’s urban service area.
On Thursday, the Urban County Planning Commission voted to add more than 515 acres of the Blue Sky Rural Activity Center, or the commercial development around Athens Boonesboro Road and Interstate 75, to the service area.
That’s in addition to nearly 497 acres between Todds Road and I-75 on the east side of the interchange and 641 acres on the west side of I-75 on Athens Boonesboro Road.
The area around Athens Boonesboro Road and I-75 will soon become the city’s largest area for new development.
In addition, the planning commission removed two areas the Urban Growth Management Advisory Committee had recommended to be included in the expansion: 568 acres between Winchester Road and Cleveland Road, and 230 acres north of Parkers Mill Road near Man O War Boulevard.
Other areas that remained include: 1,017 acres between Winchester Road, I-75 and I-64, and 163 acres along Parkers Mill.
That brings the total number of proposed acres added to 2,853 acres.
The Urban Growth Management Advisory Committee included planning commission and Lexington council members as well as other citizens. The group met over several weeks and eventually recommended 3,012 acres be added to the urban service boundary.
The city has hired a consultant to develop a master plan for the proposed expansion area. That expansion area master plan must be completed by December 2024.
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council voted in June to add between 2,700 and 5,000 acres to the city’s growth boundary.
The planning commission has final say on how many and which acres can be added. The issue will not return to the council.
This is the first time since 1996 land has been added to the growth boundary.
Why Athens Boonesboro interchange was added
Several planning commission members who did not serve on the Urban Growth Management Advisory Committee said during Thursday’s meeting it made more sense to include Blue Sky Rural Activity Center, which has several fast-food restaurants, hotels, and an industrial park, then use prime farmland for development.
Planning Director Jim Duncan said Blue Sky Rural Activity Center was not included because parts of Blue Sky did not meet the council’s directive of what land should be added. That criteria included land adjacent to the growth boundary or on a major corridor. Parts of Blue Sky Rural Activity center’s industrial park were not contiguous to Athens Boonesboro Road.
Blue Sky Rural Activity Center also needed a new small area plan, which helps guide future development, to make it a more successful interstate exchange, Duncan said.
That likely can’t be accomplished with an expansion area master plan, which focuses on undeveloped land, not underutilized land, Duncan said.
But some planning commission members said the area was ripe for redevelopment and investment. Lexington Sporting Club is building youth soccer fields and a stadium on the west side of that interchange. Part of that development is in a portion of the Blue Sky Rural Activity Center, which covers both sides of the interstate.
“Adding that area in and reducing the impact on our natural areas and farmland” is an important step, said Robin Michler, a planning commission member.
Other planning commission members agreed and said it made more sense to take already developed areas that have been underutilized than pick prime farmland for development.
What’s next
The master plan for the new expansion area will help detail what types of development will go where. The council directed the expansion to focus on jobs and housing, particularly affordable housing. There is currently no mechanism in place to guarantee affordable housing is built in the expansion area.
The other key factor the master plan will determine — cost. Establishing sewer service in the expansion area will cost millions of dollars. Some of that cost will be shouldered by taxpayers. Other costs will be picked up by developers. Many of the areas in the expansion area are off of or have access to rural, county roads that will need to be improved as the areas develop. That, too, will be costly.
After the master plan is completed, the planning commission will vote to add the areas to the city’s growth boundary. It will take several years for land inside the new expansion area to be developed.
