Lexington deserves data-driven growth. Without it, we should demand minimum expansion. | Opinion

For nearly 20 years, Fayette Alliance has worked to support responsible, data-driven growth in Lexington-Fayette County. Thankfully, much of the growth in our community during this time has been achieved responsibly.

However, in recent months, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council has taken unprecedented steps, which fall outside the confines of the law and local statutes and which suggest that our decades of responsible urban growth may be coming to an end.

Earlier this summer, the Council ignored the recommendations of the Planning Commission, as well as data, research, and community input gathered during the Imagine Lexington 2045 Goals & Objectives process, and made the decision to expand the Urban Services Boundary (USB) for the first time since 1996.

As a result of the Council’s decision, the Urban Growth Management Plan Advisory Committee, a group of community leaders and council members, has been tasked with identifying 2,700-5,000 acres for expansion and development. The work of this group is moving ahead at an alarming pace. The committee began meeting on Aug. 8and has a deadline of Sept. 26 to identify and recommend land to be incorporated into the USB.

Perhaps more alarming than this speed, however, is the lack of relevant data that has been provided, despite requests from committee members. In order to plan for generation-shaping growth and development, and to make thoughtful and deliberate decisions, the committee needs more information.

The following critical questions are some that members of the Committee have asked, but have not yet been answered.

▪ What will the ultimate cost to taxpayers be for the proposed expansion?

The 2023 sewer study indicates that sewer infrastructure for just one of the largest proposed expansion areas - out Winchester Road - will cost more than $296M to build and require a high level of participation from LFUCG to cover the costs. This estimate does not include the additional services for new development like fire, police, or EMS personnel. No updated Cost of Community Services study has been completed.

▪ What are the updated housing demands, population projections, and market needs for Lexington-Fayette County and surrounding counties? How many housing units do we need, how many units will be built inside the existing urban area and expansion areas, and how much additional acreage do we need to meet that demand?

▪ How quickly are we developing land on an annual basis?

Some research shows it’s as little as 100-125 acres per year.

▪ Where and how much land do we have available - inside the urban area and from the last expansion?

More than half of the land included in the 1996 expansion of the USB has yet to be developed. The Sustainable Growth Study, adopted by Council in 2021, found we have 6,000+ acres of vacant land inside the existing USB, not including underutilized acres.

Importantly, comprehensive data on each of these issues was provided in 1996, the last time the USB was expanded, before any vote for expansion even took place. How are our current decision makers able to make responsible policy without it?

At the end of August, in conjunction with a lawsuit Fayette Alliance and a group of concerned community members filed against the Council in July, a motion was filed for a temporary injunction against the expansion area planning work. Fayette Circuit Court Judge VanMeter will rule on this motion on Oct. 5. While awaiting Judge VanMeter’s ruling, Fayette Alliance urges members of the community to participate in a public hearing about the USB expansion, which will be held Tuesday, Sept. 12, at 6:00pm in Council chambers at 200 E. Main Street.

This public hearing offers us all the opportunity to let our voices be heard, and to stand up for thoughtful, deliberate, data-backed decision-making for our community. This is the only public hearing scheduled before the Committee makes its recommendation about expansion areas to the Planning Commission.

Fayette Alliance has also created a petition to demonstrate support for data-driven growth processes in Lexington-Fayette County. Anybody interested in joining the nearly 900 community members who have already signed can do so here.

For now, the only responsible way forward is to limit any proposed expansion to the Council’s minimum requirement of 2,700 acres. There is so much information missing, a data-driven process must be developed and implemented before our community can realistically plan for anything more - or we will continue to put Lexington-Fayette County’s legacy of responsible planning at risk.

Any expansion should be planned to limit negative impact to existing agricultural and equine operations and prime soils, limit costs to taxpayers, and require the best and highest use of each acre developed to meet community needs. If done thoughtfully, research shows 2,700 acres of additional land alone could create more than 16,000 diverse housing units, hundreds of acres for jobs, community facilities, and more. That doesn’t include what will continue to happen inside the existing boundary and remaining expansion areas.

We owe it to ourselves, our families, our community, and the future of Lexington-Fayette County to make the best decisions we can with the limited information and resources we have. For now, let’s demand the minimum expansion until a better process and more data is in place to inform it.

Brittany Roethemeier is Executive Director of Fayette Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to achieving sustainable and equitable growth in Lexington-Fayette County through land-use advocacy, education, and research.

This story was originally published September 8, 2023 at 10:53 AM.