‘Tearing down 100-year-old trees:’ Petition headed to school board over new Tates Creek High

A neighbor near the site for the proposed new Tates Creek High School is preparing a petition for the Fayette County school board out of environmental concerns that trees and other vegetation are being destroyed.

“It will seriously damage our property values in what was once a quiet neighborly street,” Nancy Jo Kemper, a former congressional candidate, said in a Facebook post Friday.

Fayette school officials said last year that construction on a new $88 million building would begin this summer. It is being built near the old school in southeast Lexington.

Kemper, who lives on a street near the school, told the Herald-Leader Saturday that vegetation is being destroyed, including 100-year-old trees on the hillside above the creek that runs through green space at the end of a cul-de-sac.

She said she had emailed Fayette school board chair Stephanie Spires and is preparing a petition for neighbors to sign asking the school board to inform neighbors of construction plans.

“None of us want to look at a brick wall,” Kemper said. “It’s really going to be on top of us.”

She said she had expressed her concerns to Urban County Councilman Fred Brown on Friday. Brown could not immediately be reached Saturday.

Kemper said she wanted to make sure that an environmental impact study had been conducted, and neighbors want to know more about where the school will be constructed.

She said flooding could get worse without the vegetation, “not to mention that we are tearing down 100-year-old trees.”

She said the trees had served as a buffer for the noise of the high school.

Fayette school district spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall said Saturday that the design team includes landscape architects and civil engineers who have been engaged in the environmental aspects of the project.

“No construction is taking place in the flood plain and there will be no impact on the creek. Water runoff from the new building will be diverted to a retention basin on the district’s property, and channeled underground to another storm water sewer,” said Deffendall.

Spires said Saturday she would contact Kemper.

“We discussed environmental impact a lot before voting for this project, and the finished product is going to have less environmental impact than the current space,” Spires said. “For example, we are significantly decreasing the blacktop parking lot to have a smaller, more efficient parking and traffic footprint.“

Deffendall said the new Tates Creek High School building will be a 21st century facility that meets the instructional needs of students. She said the $88 million project is unique because the available land on the Tates Creek campus allows the district to construct a new building on the existing site.

“The placement of the building does require tree and brush removal as part of our site development work, however new trees will be planted once construction is complete,” she said.

Fayette County schools is committed to being a good neighbor, Deffendall said, “and we will reach out to families who live in the vicinity of the high school in the near future to set up a meeting with the design team in order to address any additional concerns.”

“Fayette County Public Schools has an excellent track record of sustainable building practices. Many of our projects have received environmental awards, and Frederick Douglass, our newest high school building, is the first perfect 100 ENERGY STAR high school in Kentucky,” Deffendall said. “Notably, five district schools recently participated in Lexington’s second annual Tree Week by planting new trees on campus.”

This story was originally published February 29, 2020 at 1:18 PM.