Modernize the Zoning Ordinance to reflect the direction of the 2018 Comprehensive Plan, proactively planning for the next 20 years of growth.
The last major overhaul of Lexington’s Zoning Ordinance in 1983, much needed in the wake of the City and County merger, also included significant revisions to the Land Subdivision Regulations. There was a focus on raising the bar for future development and ensuring that public infrastructure be built to standards that more adequately addressed public health and safety. Much has changed in the community since that time, but the ordinance has only seen many small revisions to accommodate those significant changes. The last major changes to the zoning ordinance created provisions for infill and redevelopment in 2009.
Imagine Lexington is attempting to mark a significant shift in Lexington’s planning direction, one toward facilitating urban growth, enhancing existing places, and creating new desirable areas. Realizing these goals will require modernizing the Zoning Ordinance to make new projects feasible. Creating abundant new opportunities for varied housing types in order to attract new residents and businesses will be critical, and will require a top-to-bottom review of every section of the ordinance. Many of the past iterations need to be evaluated for efficacy, as well as reviewing the ordinance in light of Imagine Lexington’s focus on equity.
There is no question that, over the last 20 years, changes to the zoning ordinance have taken on a more design-based approach, once again raising the bar for future growth. Residents are increasingly more concerned with the quality of the place they live in. Revisions to the zoning ordinance will focus on creating great new places for people to live, work and experience. These text amendments are called for throughout the adopted 2018 Comprehensive Plan. To facilitate the comprehensive and imposing effort required to amend these ordinances in a meaningful way over the coming years, text amendments emanating from Imagine Lexington will first be presented for formal consideration at the Planning Commission committees. The text amendments will follow the remainder of the process as directed by KRS 100 and the Zoning Ordinance, including mailed notice, a public hearing with the Planning Commission, and final adoption by the Urban County Council.
Action Item(s)
- Update the Zoning Ordinance to reflect Imagine Lexington priorities.
Goals and Objectives
GOAL A1: Expand housing choices
Objective: A1a
Pursue incentives and regulatory approaches that encourage creativity and sustainability in housing development.
Objective: A1b
Accommodate the demand for housing in Lexington responsibly, prioritizing higher-density and mixture of housing types.
Objective: A1c
Plan for safe, affordable and accessible housing to meet the needs of older and/or disadvantaged residents.
Objective: A1d
Create and implement housing incentives that strengthen the opportunities for higher-density and housing affordability.
GOAL A2: Support infill and redevelopment throughout the Urban Service Area as a strategic component of growth.
Objective: A2a
Identify areas of opportunity for infill, redevelopment, adaptive reuse, and mixed-use development.
Objective: A2b
Respect the context and design features of areas surrounding development projects and develop design standards and guidelines to ensure compatibility with existing urban form.
Objective: A2c
Incorporate adequate greenspace and open space into all development projects, which serve the needs of the intended population.
Objective: A2d
Implement innovative programs, such as the public infrastructure fund and land bank programs, to facilitate sustainable development, including, but not limited to, housing, affordable at all income levels, and commercial and economic activity.
Objective: A2e
Create materials that educate the public about infill and redevelopment.
GOAL A3: Provide well-designed neighborhoods and communities.
Objective: A3a
Enable existing and new neighborhoods to flourish through improved regulation, expanded opportunities for neighborhood character preservation, and public commitment to expand options for mixed-use and mixed-type housing throughout Lexington-Fayette County
Objective: A3b
Strive for positive and safe social interactions in neighborhoods, including, but not limited to, neighborhoods that are connected for pedestrians and various modes of transportation.
Objective: A3c
Minimize disruption of natural features when building new communities.
Objective: A3d
Promote, maintain, and expand the urban forest throughout Lexington.
GOAL A4: Address community facilities at a neighborhood scale.
Objective: A4a
Incorporate schools, libraries, and other community-focused educational institutions into neighborhoods in order to maximize safe routes for all pedestrians and bicyclists.
Objective: A4b
Plan for equitable and accessible social services and healthcare facilities that address the needs of all residents, maximizing the opportunity to reach geographically underserved areas throughout the community.
Objective: A4c
Establish and promote road network connections in order to reduce police, EMS, and fire response times.
GOAL B1: Continue to implement the Consent Decree, including the capacity assurance program, as directed by the Environmental Protection Agency.
There are no objectives related to this policy that further this particular goal.
GOAL B2: Reduce Lexington-Fayette County’s carbon footprint.
Objective: B2a
Continue programs and initiatives to improve energy efficiency.
Objective: B2b
Anticipate the community's needs by encouraging environmentally sustainable uses of natural resources.
Objective: B2c
Provide incentives for green building, sustainable development, and transit-oriented development with civic agencies leading by example through the use of green building standards.
Objective: B2d
Prioritize multi-modal options that de-emphasize single-occupancy vehicle dependence.
GOAL B3: Apply environmentally sustainable practices to protect, conserve and restore landscapes and natural resources.
Objective: B3a
Support the funding, planning and management of a green infrastructure program.
Objective: B3b
Identify and protect natural resources and landscapes before development occurs.
Objective: B3c
Incorporate green infrastructure principles in new plans and policies, including, but not limited to and transportation.
GOAL C1: Support and showcase local assets to further the creation of a variety of jobs.
Objective: C1a
Strengthen efforts to develop a variety of job opportunities that lead to prosperity for all.
Objective: C1b
Strengthen regulations and policies that propel the agricultural economy, including, but not limited to, local food production and distribution, agritourism and the equine industry that showcase Lexington-Fayette County as the Horse Capital of the World.
Objective: C1d
Encourage development that promotes and enhances tourism.
Objective: C1e
Encourage developers of government-funded or subsidized projects to employ residents in the vicinity.
GOAL C2: Attract the world’s finest jobs, encourage an entrepreneurial spirit, and enhance our ability to recruit and retain a talented, creative workforce by establishing opportunities that embrace diversity with inclusion in our community.
Objective: C2a
Prioritize the success and growth of strategically-targeted employment sectors (healthcare, education, high-tech, advanced manufacturing, agribusiness, agritourism, and the like), and enable infill and redevelopment that creates jobs where people live.
Objective: C2b
Improve opportunities for small business development and workers who rely on personal technology.
Objective: C2c
Review and improve regulations and policies that attract and retain high paying jobs through close collaboration with agencies that focus on economic development.
Objective: C2d
Provide entertainment and other quality of life opportunities that attract young, and culturally diverse professionals, and a work force of all ages and talents to Lexington.
GOAL C3: Identify, provide and sustain readily available publicly-controlled economic development land to meet Fayette County’s need for jobs, amending the Comprehensive Plan as necessary to ensure it remains an up-to-date and workable framework for economic development.
There are no objectives related to this policy that further this particular goal.
GOAL D1: Work to achieve an effective and comprehensive transportation system.
Objective: D1a
Support the Complete Streets concept, prioritizing a pedestrian-first design that also accommodates the needs of bicycle, transit and other vehicles.
Objective: D1b
Develop a viable network of accessible transportation alternatives for residents and commuters, which may include the use of mass transit, bicycles, walkways, ridesharing, greenways and other strategies.
Objective: D1c
Concentrate efforts to enhance mass transit along our corridors in order to facilitate better service for our growing population, as well as efficiencies in our transit system.
Objective: D1d
Improve traffic operation strategies.
GOAL D2: Support a model of development that focuses on people-first to provide accessible community facilities and services to meet the health, safety and quality of life needs of Lexington-Fayette County’s residents and visitors.
Objective: D2a
Encourage public safety and social sustainability by supporting Secured-by-Design concepts and other policies and programs for the built and natural environments of neighborhoods to help reduce opportunities for crimes.
GOAL D3: Protect and enhance the natural and cultural landscapes that give Lexington-Fayette County its unique identity and image.
Objective: D3a
Protect historic resources and archaeological sites.
Objective: D3b
Incentivize the renovation, restoration, development and maintenance of historic residential and commercial structures.
Objective: D3c
Develop incentives to retain, restore, preserve and continue use of historic site and structures, rural settlements and urban and rural neighborhoods.
GOAL D4: Promote, support, encourage and provide incentives for public art.
There are no objectives related to this policy that further this particular goal.
GOAL E1: Uphold the Urban Service Area concept.
Objective: E1a
Continue to monitor the absorption of vacant and underutilized land within the Urban Service Area.
Objective: E1b
Ensure all types of development are environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable to accommodate the future growth needs of all residents while safeguarding rural land.
Objective: E1c
Emphasize redevelopment of underutilized corridors.
Objective: E1d
Maximize development on vacant land within the Urban Service Area and promote redevelopment of underutilized land in a manner that enhances existing urban form and/or historic features.
Objective: E1e
Pursue strategies to activate large undeveloped landholdings within the Urban Service Area.
GOAL E2: Support the agricultural economy, horse farms, general agricultural farms and the rural character of the Rural Service Area.
Objective: E2a
Protect and enhance the natural, cultural, historic and environmental resources of Lexington-Fayette County's Rural Service Area and Bluegrass farmland to help promote the general agricultural brand and ensure Lexington-Fayette County remains the Horse Capital of the World.
Objective: E2b
Support the Purchase of Development Rights and private sector farmland conservation programs to protect, preserve and enhance our signature agricultural industries, historic structures, cultural landscapes, natural environments and community welfare.
GOAL E3: Maintain the current boundaries of the Urban Service Area and Rural Activity Centers; and create no new Rural Activity Centers. To ensure Lexington is responsive to its future land use needs, this Goal shall be superseded and no longer in effect upon completion of Theme E, Goal 4, Objective D.
There are no objectives related to this policy that further this particular goal.
GOAL E4: Protect Lexington’s invaluable rural resources and inform long-range planning for infrastructure, community facilities and economic development through the creation of a new process for determining long-term land use decisions involving the Urban Service Boundary and Rural Activity Centers.
Objective: E4a
Establish the process via a study, involving diverse stakeholders and constituents, that meets the projected needs of the agricultural and development communities, by preserving key agricultural resources from development pressures and identifying land for future urban development.
Objective: E4b
Ensure the study designates rural land for long-term preservation, identifies land for potential future urban development and specifies triggers, thresholds and timing for the addition of the identified urban land into the Urban Service Boundary, keeping infill and land use efficiency as the continued primary objectives.
Objective: E4c
Complete the study with the assistance of a consultant by July 1, 2020.
Objective: E4d
Implement the process resulting from the study as an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan, superseding Theme E, Goal 3 at time of adoption by the Planning Commission.
GOAL F1: Engage and educate the residents of Lexington-Fayette County in the planning process.
Objective: F1a
Pursue all venue of communication, including, but not limited to, electronic and social media to involve residents.
Objective: F1b
Establish early and continuous communication with residents.
Objective: F1c
Develop a network of diverse contacts and a means to engage them.
Objective: F1d
Build on the On the Table initiative and continue to engage in partnerships with community organizations to reach underrepresented populations.
GOAL F2: Implement the 2018 Comprehensive Plan.
There are no objectives related to this policy that further this particular goal.