The Lexington City Council voted 13 to 2 Thursday night to approve a comprehensive plan allowing for a 27 hundred to 5000 acre urban service expansion. It’s been a hotly debated item for years and has intensified in recent weeks. First District Council Member Tayna Fogle said some residents in her downtown district are worried that without expansion, infill development might push homeowners out.
“How do we know if we start working on the infill and start building infill that we won’t be more gentrified than we are now,” said Fogle.
Don Robinson was on the Planning Commission in 1996 when the last expansion occurred. Calling himself the lone dissenting voice then, he said the Council’s work is just beginning if there’s to be intentional growth. The Planning Commission along with the City’s planning staff are being called upon to develop a mechanism for more affordable housing in any expanded area.
Voting no was 12th District Council Member Kathy Plomin representing rural Fayette County. She said housing challenges are found in comparable cities all over.
“But the difference is in other cities they are not sacrificing prime land that is distinctive, not just to the country, but across the world. And that’s what we’re doing,” said Plomin.
Vice Mayor Dan Wu voted yes. He said his concern was not about expansion, but the process to develop new areas. Wu said it’s important to maintain accountability and guardrails for this expansion. Longtime Lexington marketing and advertising executive Kip Cornett told Council the hard work will be going forward to assure smart growth.
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