Dear Fayette County Neighborhood Council Neighbors,
The Lexington Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG) this year, from April 10 to April 16, will compile data that YOU and your fellow citizens furnish as the basis for the next Comprehensive Plan, the planning document that forms the basis for governmental planning decisions for the next five years. It is vital that YOU participate in this process by sharing your ideas at a session of the annual On the Table discussion. And we hope that you will attend the next general meeting of Fayette County Neighborhood Council (FCNC) to discuss the implications of answering a set of proposed questions at On the Table. That FCNC meeting will be held on Monday, March 14 at 6:30 p.m. Richard Young, Executive Director of CivicLex, will be presenting at the meeting.
Our sincere hope is to hold an in-person meeting on March 14 at Tates Creek Christian Church in our usual room at 6:30 p.m. If the meeting is in person, we will require masks and as much social distancing as possible. If we anticipate that Covid-19 rates will not be sufficiently down by March 14, we will email a Zoom link for the meeting during the week before March 14.
The 2018 Comprehensive Plan, under which the LFUCG Division of Planning currently makes decisions,
· provided justification for the near approval of a 6- to 10-story residential development on Maxwell Street
· led to a Nicholasville Road study that advocates for 4- to 6-story rental properties to be constructed within 1/2 mile of some to-be-built bus stations on Nicholasville Road, and if implemented the study results likely will set a precedent to make this higher-density plan applicable to ALL major roads in Lexington
· promoted the development of accessory (second) small houses (ADUs) on single family lots throughout Lexington, and
· led to a current draft proposal to permit up to 12 dwelling units (i.e., multifamily housing) on R-2 zoned lots, a revision of the current R-2 zone that houses duplexes (and single-family residences in a number of areas).
The 2018 Comprehensive Plan also kept the Urban Services Boundary in place to protect rural areas and horse farms from development.
You may like some of the direction of planning and development in Lexington’s neighborhoods, and there may be parts you don’t like. This year’s On the Table (OTT) effort offers a citizen’s best opportunity to make his or her opinion known and effective. At OTT you will discuss your preference either to maintain the current direction or to change it. Each person attending OTT will be asked to complete a set of questions relating to preferences for our city. Although there are no right or wrong answers to these questions, FCNC wants to provide an explanation of some of the planning issues involved within some of the questions. At our upcoming general meeting on March 14 we will try to explain that some of the questions are not as simple as they seem.
In our previous message on February 7, we told you that CivicLex, a nonprofit group whose stated purpose is to facilitate civic involvement, is coordinating OTT and has formulated questions with the assistance of a 30-member Advisory Group representing a range of community organizations and institutions. And we are happy to have CivicLex Director Richard Young available to explain the effort.
By now, I am sure that you are getting the idea that On the Table’s meetings and results this year will be much more important than in the previous four years:
– All participants will answer the same questions.
– The data collected will feed directly into the new Comprehensive Plan.
– University of Kentucky professors are involved in the collection and analysis of the data.
– It will be possible to sort the data by geographic area and possibly by neighborhood once complete.
– The results will be available to the public. They could provide a public record of what your neighborhood wants or doesn’t want.
– The results will be used to help make planning and zoning decisions.
– LFUCG Planning will not receive the data until the OTT manager, CivicLex, finishes analyzing it.
– Narrative comments also will be analyzed and submitted, especially to the extent that questions are unclear or that answers change following OTT discussions.
I’m asking each of you to help us convey to the formulators of the new Comprehensive Plan the needs and opinions of YOUR neighborhood. Please register for OTT by going to ottlex.org. The nitty gritty is this: You can register to attend, but even better would be to have you register to host a table.
· To be represented, every neighborhood should have at least one table of participants. Often, your district council member will host a large meeting.
· Encourage your neighbors to register for On the Table to show their support of your neighborhood needs.
· OTT meetings can be in-person or online.
· Signing up to attend as an individual would allow you to participate at someone else’s table. The FCNC can assist individuals to attend meetings as individuals.
· Signing up to host is especially important. Being a host means that you would lead a meeting or meetings. Training will be available for hosts. FCNC will instruct on how to host a Zoom meeting. The ideal number of people per table is around six but larger meetings are acceptable. Hosts manage each OTT session and lead discussions of the questions once the questionnaire is completed. Participants can change their answers following a discussion of each question. Hosts can choose any location, any day, and any time for their meeting – your kitchen table, your back yard, a neighborhood park, a restaurant or coffee shop, your living room. Hosts also invite whomever they wish to their meeting. All participants attending do have to first register at www.ottlex.org.
· Meetings should last no longer than 1 hour.
Once you sign up as a host or participant, please send an email to fayetteneighborhoods@gmail.com so we can be of assistance.
This On the Table meeting is important if you want a voice in what will be happening around you. Please help us to support and make known the sentiments and needs of neighborhoods. Plan to attend on March 14 to learn more.
Thanks!
Walt Gaffield, President, Fayette County Neighborhood Council
P.S. We know this is a lot of information. Please be aware that in this correspondence we have attempted to
—– Tell you of the importance of attending the next FCNC General Meeting on March 14 at 6:30 p.m.
—– Tell you why it’s so important for you to attend or host a session of On the Table from April 10 to April 16, 2022
If you have questions, please email fayetteneighborhoods@gmail.com or use our web site (www.fcnc.org) for more information. CivicLex’s web site (www.ottlex.org) has registration forms and additional information also.