Lexington, Kentucky Passes Urban Growth Plan

The city’s new master plan sets out requirements for mixed-use development.

1 minute read

November 6, 2024, 8:00 AM PST

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


Aerial view of downtown Lexington, Kentucky.

Lexington, Kentucky. | Ivelin / Adobe Stock

The Lexington, Kentucky Planning Commission approved a new Urban Growth Master Plan (UGMP), which, among other items, mandates commercial space within residential developments to ensure walkability

According to an article by Adrian Paul Bryant in The Lexington Times, “The original recommendation was to require developers to build 4,200 square feet of commercial space if their residential developments provided 20% or more of the recommended single-family housing units in Town and Village Centers — which are planned commercial and activity hubs for each USB expansion area. Once 20% of the units were built, the 4,200 square feet of commercial space had to be built before more housing could be built.” The updated plan changes that to 40 percent of all housing units on the site.

The plan also makes protected bike lanes the default bike lane type on the city’s avenues, sets requirements around where utilities can be placed in relation to trees, and establishes a 100-foot landscape bugger between development and rural land on the edges of Lexington’s Urban Service Boundary (USB).

Monday, November 4, 2024 in The Lexington Times

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