Week of April 18, 2022

Written By Megan Gulla

🔎 - Big topic this week: Mayor’s Budget Address

On Tuesday, April 19, 2022, in the 3 pm Council Work Session, Mayor Linda Gorton will present her proposed budget for FY22/23.

  • If you care about any issue that impacts Lexington residents, you should pay attention to this conversation.

  • City budgets paint a picture of what a city values. While there is always additional context, budgets are an excellent starting point for understanding a city's priorities and structure.

The Mayor's proposed budget sets the tone for the entire budgeting process.

  • As the Council negotiates what programs they will fund in the upcoming year, they are mainly doing so from the starting place of the proposed budget.

  • This year's budget is likely to look different than last year for various reasons, including a changing revenue forecast, ARPA funding, and more.

Want to learn more about the city's budget? Check out our LFUCG budget resources here.

If you are interested in shaping what our city prioritizes (and funds), watch this presentation and get involved early! You can watch this meeting on LexTV.

🔎 - This week in City Hall: Sustainable Growth Task Force & Government Initiated Zone Changes

Are you coming off of On the Table thinking about how Lexington will grow over the next 20 years? On Tuesday, April 19, 2022, at 1 pm, the Council's Planning & Public Safety Committee will hear two presentations related to just that!

Government Initiated Zone Change
The first of these two presentations focuses on a new idea to encourage more dense and affordable development in Lexington along Nicholasville Road.

  • The city's Infill & Redevelopment Steering Committee is proposing that LFUCG approach property owners, renters, and business owners of a primarily residential area on Nicholasville Road near campus to see if they would be interested in preemptively rezoning the area to a zone that allows for more density even though no development is proposed for the area.

    • The Infill & Redevelopment Steering Committee includes members of the Council, Planning staff, neighborhood associations, development community members, builders and architects, nonprofit members, and residents interested in infill & redevelopment.

  • Why are they doing this? This idea is seen as a way to advance the goals of the Imagine Nicholasville Road plan.

    • The city's Imagine Nicholasville Road plan encourages more dense development along Nicholasville Road - think retail and apartment buildings instead of single-family housing.

    • The hope is that this will encourage more walkable and public transit-oriented communities (which may reduce traffic) and provide additional housing options (which may reduce housing costs) along the corridor.

  • Why is this new? This preemptive rezoning is being presented as a new way to implement this plan by making it easier to build more dense development.

    • Typically, zone changes are initiated by developers for a specific project when the property's government-set land use doesn't allow for the proposed development.

    • If a zone change complies with the city's Comprehensive Plan and doesn't encounter much resident push-back, it is typically approved. If a zone change doesn't go smoothly, it can be expensive and contentious.

    • In this plan, the city government would preemptively change the zone of this area, making it easier to redevelop the area for more dense development in the future. That said, there are around 50 unique owners of the 94 properties in the area, so a full-scale redevelopment of the area is unlikely in the near term.

  • What are the next steps? The city will meet with property owners, renters, businesses, and neighborhood associations in the area to discuss the idea.

    • If there is support for it among these groups, the Committee will bring a recommendation to Council to initiate the zone change.

    • If there is no support, the process will be stopped.

Sustainable Growth Task Force Next Steps
The second presentation in this meeting to watch is about the Sustainable Growth Task Force.

The Sustainable Growth Task Force is an LFUCG committee that created a process to help inform the Division of Planning and Council on whether or not it should expand the Urban Service Boundary. Here's some coverage of the Task Force's recommendations.

In this meeting, the Planning & Public Safety will hear an update presentation on the Task Force's recommendations and consider adopting a Resolution adopting the study and affirming its next steps. The Planning Commission has already done this.

If this happens, here would be the next steps:

  • The Division of Planning will update the study annually to serve as a resource for growth management decisions and track vacant land and growth trends.

  • The Planning Commission will identify some rural land for long-term preservation and other lands for potential future urban development.

  • The city will also develop policies for expanding the Urban Service Boundary.

  • Council to define and adopt the 2023 Comprehensive Plan's Goals & Objectives.

🏃 - Get Engaged

On the Table Survey
Did you participate in On the Table? Did you miss out? Either way - don't forget about the survey! 

  • If you filled out a paper survey - make sure to drop it off at one of our five designated locations by 6:00pm on Friday, April 22. If you don't want to drop it off, you can also take a photo of each page and email them to info@ottlex.org.

  • If you didn't take or finish the digital survey - you have through 11:59pm on April 22nd to take/finish the digital survey, which you can do here.

  • If you didn't join a table - we still want to hear from you! All of the On the Table resources are still online - you're welcome to host your own private conversation or take the survey! Just make sure to fill out the digital survey by 11:59pm on April 22nd.

🗞 - Updates from Last Week

CivicLex Public Input in General Government & Social Services Committee
Last week, on Tuesday, April 12, CivicLex presented at the General Government and Social Services Committee meeting about public input and how LFUCG can improve its process for providing public input on legislative items before Council. These recommendations come from a year plus study in partnership with LFUCG and professors from the Martin School at UK and Transylvania University.

The presented recommendations included;

  • Providing additional information online about how to participate in public input at an in-person meeting and allowing online public input.

  • Reserving 30 minutes before council meeting for public input to save time for residents and staff.

  • Creating a "Front-of-House" service person in City Hall to direct residents to resources.

  • Adopting user-friendly technologies for access to legislative tracking and allowing for virtual input on items.

  • Creating resources to help residents to understand what issues are being discussed by Council.

Council members were receptive and interested in this study and the recommended improvements. The administration is already working on some of these items, including adding a comment feature on Legistar and providing additional descriptions on how to provide input best. 

CivicLex will make one more presentation to the General Government and Social Services Committee with the final report and recommendations.

🏢 - This Week in City Government

Monday, April 18

Continued Discussion, Reapproval, and Extension Filing Deadline
⏱ - 4:00 pm on April 18
📍 - Planning Office, 7th Floor — Phoenix Building, 101 E. Vine St.
📺 - No virtual option
🗣 - No public input

———

Tuesday, April 19

Planning & Public Safety Committee
⏱ - 1:00 pm on April 19
📍 - 2nd Floor Council Chamber, Government Center — 200 East Main St.
📺 - LexTV
🗣 - No public input

Council Meeting: Mayor’s Budget Address
⏱ - 3:00 pm on April 19
📍 - 2nd Floor Council Chamber, Government Center — 200 East Main St.
📺 - LexTV
🗣 - No public input

Council Work Session
⏱ - Immediately following Budget Address on April 19
📍 - 2nd Floor Council Chamber, Government Center — 200 East Main St.
📺 - LexTV
🗣 - No public input

———

Wednesday, April 20

Greenspace Commission and Trust
⏱ - 3:00 am on April 20
📍 - 215 West Main St., Ste. 150 in the VisitLex Conference Room inside the historic Fayette County Courthouse
📺 - No virtual option
🗣 - No public input

———

Thursday, April 21

Corridors Commission Meeting
⏱ - 12:00 pm on April 21
📍 - Virtual
📺 - Zoom 
🗣 - No public input

Planning Commission Work Session
⏱ - 1:30 pm on April 21
📍 - 3rd Floor Conference Room, Phoenix Building — 101 East Vine St.
📺 - No virtual option
🗣 - No public input

———

Friday, April 22

No meetings

Megan Gulla
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