Council Debates Urban Service Boundary Expansion
Update:
At the final Committee of the Whole (COW) on the “Imagine Lexington 2045” Comprehensive Plan Goals & Objectives, Council voted to expand the Urban Service Boundary (USB), which restricts development of Fayette County’s rural land.
To read more about the contents of the amendments and what the plan is moving forward, click here.
Council will meet in its second Committee of the Whole (COW) to discuss amendments to the “Imagine Lexington 2045” Comprehensive Plan Goals & Objectives (G&O). This will be their last COW on the 2045 Comprehensive Plan update and will include a discussion on Theme E related to Lexington’s urban and rural balance, particularly the Urban Services Boundary.
Conversations up to this point suggest that a motion will be made in this COW to amend the G&O to expand the Urban Services Boundary, and that there is support on Council for an expansion of some kind.
During public comment a couple weeks ago, several groups urged Council to create a 5,000 acre expansion across two main locations - along Winchester Road and Athens-Boonesboro Road. Other groups voiced concern about expansion, and instead encouraged Council to adopt the Planning Commission’s recommendation of maintaining the current boundary and designing a new process for when and how to expand the boundary. Planning Commission’s recommendation was very similar to what was adopted by Council in the 2018 Comprehensive Plan.
The Urban Service Boundary has not been expanded in since 1996, when it was expanded to include much of what was subsequently developed into Hamburg. This 27-year span is the longest the boundary has remained unchanged. In advance of this year’s Comprehensive Plan update, there were several attempts to set conditions and a new process for expanding the Urban Service Boundary, including the Sustainable Growth Task Force and the Goal 4 Workgroup.
It is unclear how or where the Boundary would expand if Council chooses to do so, and how that process would be managed.
There are external factors that would shape an expansion. In last week’s COW (week of May22nd), Councilmembers heard a presentation about the city’s ongoing Sewerability Study, which is examining what land outside the USB would be able to have easily receive sewer infrastructure. This will have direct implications on where and how development could happen outside the current boundary.
In addition to talking about the Urban Service Boundary in Theme E, Council also discussed amendments to Theme D, which covers transportation, development styles, and community culture, and Theme F, which covers how the Comprehensive Plan is implemented.
The COW on these Goals & Objectives was held on Thursday, June 1st at 3pm in Council Chambers. You can watch the recording on LexTV.
Don’t forget, you can always write your Councilmember, and let them know your thoughts on the Comprehensive Plan. Find your Councilmember here.
For more information and background on the Comprehensive Plan, previous G&O discussions, and the Urban Service Boundary issue, visit our website.
