Lexington development: One set of rules for developers, another for everyone else

Here in Lexington there are two sets of rules: one for the developer and one for the neighborhoods.

We live in the Pensacola Park neighborhood, a community of 400+ homes near Baptist Health Hospital. Almost all of the homes in the neighborhood were built between WWI and WWII, and many have retained their original character for nearly 100 years. About 17 months ago, neighbors learned that the bungalow at 1847 Nicholasville Rd. was slated to be rezoned, torn down, and replaced by eight condos. Oddly, the house fulfilled a function our city says it wants – affordable housing that is close to amenities – yet the developer seemed to easily make his case for destruction, arguing that he was providing additional housing. The city sided with the developer using the new comprehensive plan as justification; the property was rezoned and the old home was demolished.

The neighborhood came together and after much discussion and outreach, we decided to pursue a historic designation, called an H-1 overlay. Our intention was not to hamper future development but rather to ensure that future changes were in keeping with the character of the neighborhood, while being in line with the comprehensive plan’s goals.

The H-1 overlay process was arduous, but in the end our neighborhood prevailed by jumping through all the required hoops. The Council upheld the Planning Commission’s recommendation, recognizing our neighborhood as a historic district effective on Dec. 3 2019. On Dec. 4, an article in the Herald-Leader announced our victory.

Unfortunately, our story returns to the same developer who jolted us into action. On Dec. 6, the developer filed for a building permit without demonstrating compliance with the new H-1 requirements. On that same day, another homeowner in the neighborhood also applied for a building permit for an addition to their home. Unlike the developer, this resident was required to comply with the H-1 requirements. What is the point of a historic designation if the city can arbitrarily bypass the rules for developers, but require them for other neighbors?

We wish our neighborhood story was a unique one. But as we went through the year-long process of getting an overlay, we heard numerous stories from various neighborhood associations and districts on the perceived unfairness between what is granted a developer and what is required of neighborhoods. The schism in Lexington has been widened by using the comprehensive plan as a way of pushing development regardless of the cost. Citizens need to be able to trust their government to deal fairly with all. Circumventing the rules for the well-connected, the squeaky wheels, and the ideologically aligned are not how one builds a resilient and welcoming Lexington.

We want to save the farms and maintain the urban service boundary, but preserving the farms shouldn’t mean destroying the historic fabric of the city. Surely we can do better than acquiescing to poor development decisions. Whether it’s a farm or a historic neighborhood, “once it’s gone, it isn’t coming back.” As citizens, we demand more from LFUCG.

Rebecca Glasscock and James Johnson, residents of the historic Pensacola Park neighborhood.

This story was originally published February 21, 2020 at 10:30 AM.