Goal 4 Workgroup Meeting October 4

The Goal 4 Workgroup the Workgroup discussed making minor changes to the map of potential Urban Service Boundary (USB) Expansion Areas.

Above is the most recent publicly-available map. It was last modified on September 27, 2022. Potential changes discussed in last weeks meeting were expanding Area E to the south to connect it to Area F.

The basis for this map is a study that determined what areas of Fayette County outside the USB could have sewer systems easily built; the way the Goal 4 Workgroup describes this is as how "sewerable" the land is. Areas in gray are sewerable areas, and are the proposed potential expansion areas that the Workgroup has been examining. Areas in green are "preserved" areas that the Workgroup recommends should never be developed, largely due to how unsewerable the land is. Green areas of the map with overlayed dark-green hatches are PDR-protected farms or otherwise conserved areas.

LFUCG Water Quality Division Director Charlie Martin was present to discuss the difficulties or relative ease of building sewer infrastructure in the expansion areas. One of his chief points was that, as of right now, Water Quality cannot build any pump stations or sewer lines outside the USB. Often, there are areas slightly outside the USB where a pump station would be very effective, but LFUCG is required to build inefficient pump stations because of the USB restriction.

After hearing Director Martin's insights, the Workgroup will add language to their Growth Management Plan, allowing for city-owned infrastructure to be built slightly outside the USB when appropriate to serve urban development inside the USB.

The Workgroup also added two more meeting dates to the calendar: October 20 and October 26, both at 10 a.m. in the Government Center's 5th Floor Conference Room.

The Goal 4 Workgroup's next meeting will be on October 11 at 10 a.m. in the 5th Floor Conference Room. You can view the packet -- including last week's meeting minutes and the current draft of the Growth Management Plan -- here.

What’s in the Growth Management Plan?

The Growth Management Plan is the document that will dictate how the city will expand the USB when and if it decides to do so.

The Plan would require the city to use data from the Sustainable Growth Report to determine current and future needs for things like housing, industrial and commercial uses, city services, etc. If the city chose to expand the USB, developments in the expansion area would have to meet the defined need. So if the city decided that a housing shortage could only be solved by expanding the USB, then only housing (and supporting infrastructure like sewers, roads, etc.) could be built in the expansion area of the USB.

The plan would also require developers to write a Masterplan or Small Area Plan for new developments in the expansion area. These development plans would need to be approved at various stages by the Division of Planning, the Planning Commission, and the Council. This is to ensure growth is deliberate and intentionally meeting the stated need.

This draft is still very early and subject to change. And remember, the Workgroup will not decide whether or not to expand the USB; they are only building a process for if and when the next expansion occurs.