When it comes to Lexington’s Comp Plan, even information gathering is up for dispute.
Lexington’s Comprehensive Plan — the blueprint for what we want our city to be — is supposed to be updated this year, and as always, it’s already getting contentious.
As in 2018, the city is trying to gather information through a process On The Table. Ideally, this is where hundreds of people all over town host gatherings, dinners or meetings to discuss the five pillars of the plan: neighborhoods, the environment, jobs and prosperity, transportation and the urban-rural balance.
But the heart of it, of course, is that the comp plan determines Lexington’s strict Urban Service Boundary and whether it should be opened — a lot or a little — to new development. Big money and big emotions are at stake, and lucky us, it happens to be an election year for mayor and the 15-member council so that money and emotion will get ... bigger.
This year, it will be run by CivicLex, the local nonpartisan nonprofit that encourages citizen education and involvement in civic issues. The group does not advocate on specific policy issues. People who gather for On The Table will take a survey that gauges how they feel about the five pillars. Working with data scientists at the University of Kentucky’s Martin School for Public Policy, CivicLex hopes to have some quantitative data that tells them how people feel about their neighborhoods, their parks, their jobs and housing. (Full disclosure: The Herald-Leader has partnered with CivicLex on journalism and civic engagement projects, such as last year’s Our Voices project, which featured local writers writing about racism in the community.)
This year it appears there’s going to be a parallel information gathering process by Commerce Lexington. Instead of using the same survey, they’re going to do a different process of focus groups to do a deeper dive into what local businesses feel about the comp plan. (Surprise: Realtors, developers and builders think we need more development.) Spokeswoman Carla Blanton said the mayor’s office asked them to participate.
Blanton is also a board member of Lexington for Everyone, a new group that Commerce Lex is involved with advocating for “smart growth,” which has already started a PR campaign about “balanced land use policies that allow for flexibility to meet the needs of our community.”
That’s why Vice Mayor Steve Kay had some pointed comments at last week’s Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council Planning and Public Safety meeting where these two plans were discussed.
“I’m very concerned about this,” he said after Blanton finished her presentation. “I have serious questions about whether this is appropriate ... I’m concerned it’s going to be biased.”
When I asked Blanton why business people couldn’t be part of the On the Table process and answer the same questions as everyone else, she said business people have more direct experience with economic development and city policy.
“Because they have a little bit of a different interaction with the city, it was thought it would be good to provide additional information, especially as Lexington is facing issues regarding budget and revenue,” Blanton said.
At the same meeting, Council Member Liz Sheehan, a Ph.D. researcher, urged Blanton to work with CivicLex to find a way for more consistent data.
“As a scientist I believe in consistency in data,” Sheehan said. “If you’re pulling information from two different surveys, it’s hard to compare across the data sets. I think a focus group format for the business community is great — we do need the business perspective in this process, but in the quantified data, I would like to see some consistency across the questions.”
That’s hard to argue. Imagine how Commerce Lex would react if one of the information gatherers was the Fayette Alliance, a board of mostly horse farm owners which advocates for infill development to protect Fayette green space. Would that be considered a finger on the scale?
There is plenty more talking to do. It’s very possible that as we see more public opinion and more data on housing and jobs, everyone will come to the same conclusion that we need to allow more flexibility on development. (As long as it’s clear that opening the urban service boundary does not guarantee affordable housing, which is what Lexington needs most right now.)
According to a statement from the Mayor’s office, Commerce Lexington should not be conflated with On The Table, despite the fact it clearly was at the planning committee. “There are basically three types of meetings: ‘On the Table,’ Commerce Lexington discussions, and meetings sponsored by the Division of Planning, which are open to any group,” the statement said. “The Mayor encourages groups and individuals from all walks of life to participate.”
So let On the Table go forward as the objective data gatherer from all sectors of Lexington, including business. Then have Commerce Lex, Fayette Alliance and anyone else who wants to do focus groups to get more information for council members. As Sheehan noted, On the Table is one data point in what will be a year of public hearings and meetings and public engagement.
If you want to be a host or be part of On The Table during the week of April 10-16, go to ottlex.org to register.
This story was originally published February 25, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
