Lexington plan guides new Urban Service Boundary development. Hearing set for data centers
Lexington now has a more up-to-date direction for how it should develop industrial land it added to its urban service boundary, but language specific to data centers across Fayette County has yet to be added to zoning codes.
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Planning Commission adopted a resolution amending the city’s comprehensive plan to include the Blue Sky Small Area Plan for the roughly 300 acres around Athens Boonesboro Road and Interstate 75 Thursday. The body scheduled a public hearing and said it would potentially take action on a zoning text amendment related to data centers during a meeting at the end of July.
Planning staff were tasked with drafting an amendment for data centers when it passed a resolution earlier this week. The commission will discuss and take potential action, plus hold a public hearing on the amendment, at a July 30 meeting.
Fifth District Council Member Liz Sheehan brought two walk-on resolutions forward June 9 that Council passed in less than 15 minutes with no discussion. One is a moratorium on reviewing plans and giving approvals for data centers and the other is the zoning ordinance text amendment.
The hope is that the amendment drafted by staff and reviewed by the commission will change some of the city’s existing code to consider data centers, including in sections that detail permitted use of space and other sections related to the requirements and procedures for approving development plans.
Sheehan told council it would “provide clarity on development plan considerations to ensure proper integration of this land use into the urban county planning and zoning scheme.”
The council member said after the Tuesday meeting that she’d already been working with planning staff to be proactive in and around Lexington despite the area not being near a large body of water or power plant, two hallmarks of where other data centers have been proposed across the country.
“The original timeline was to work on the Blue Sky Small Area Plan and have that adopted and then have the overall modernization of some of our industrial and business zones follow that conversation,” Sheehan said. “... What that zoning ordinance text amendment that we initiated ... does is it speeds up the drafting of language specific to data centers.”
The resolutions were fast tracked when news spread a data center developer had bought a former Lexmark property on New Circle Road.
The Blue Sky Small Area Plan proposes uses for and suggests what types of commercial development should be built on the roughly 300 acres around Athens Boonesboro Road and Interstate 65 which was added to the city’s urban service area in October 2023.
The area is Lexington’s oldest industrial park and has historically been home to logistics operations and storage centers. It was added to the Urban Service Boundary expansion because it already had stormwater and sewer infrastructure in place that could serve additional development.
The plan as adopted by the commission June 11 outlines an initial development phase that prioritizes adding bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure throughout and improving intersections in the business park, as well as at its entrances.
The long-term plan for Blue Sky looks to transform it into an executive industrial campus where corporate office space is next to its manufacturing, logistics or research operations.
Also included in the long-term plan for the park are proposals to meet existing employees’ walkability and green space desires, their want and need for more dining options in the park and close by, and improved safety.
Much of the long-term infrastructure plans for the park — a central road, central open space and more internal and external street connections — consider the other part of the acreage added to the urban service area. That space, also along the same Athens Boonesboro and I-75 corridor, is slated for residential development.
Sam Castro, a consultant overseeing the small area plan, told the commission June 11 it stands as a proof of concept that mixed use areas can be a benefit if done right.
The area, while already zoned industrial, does need additional clarity from the city’s rules in order to grow. Another consultant working on the plan, Caleb Racicot, said a zoning ordinance text amendment is still in the draft stages.
It would put all permitted uses in an industrial district like Blue Sky into one, rather than asking developers and commissioners to rely on references to other parts of the code. The amendment would also make major changes to classify industrial uses based on their impact, rather than their position in the manufacturing process.
The zoning code currently lacks what the amendment would define and put use standards on, specifically in industrial districts, Racicot said. That includes for things like data centers, research and development centers, self storage centers, storage yards and for waste-related uses.
Four people gave public testimony after the Blue Sky presentation. All of them were opposed to data center development across Fayette County and said they’d support the amendment, but thought there should be tighter controls.
Pete Lynch, who teaches at the University of Kentucky and is running as the Kentucky Party candidate for U.S. Congress, suggested ballot initiatives be used so that voters can decide if they want data centers in their communities.
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