The Herald Leader reports that “the sprawling Hamburg Development is poised to cross I-75″. Learn more at Kentucky.com.
Hamburg farm was admitted inside the Urban Service Area for development in 1996. Consequently, a new Central Baptist facility is slated for construction on 130-acres of Hamburg land located East of 1-75.
As the land was already inside the Urban Service Area, in 2006, The Fayette Alliance negotiated with Patrick Madden and Central Baptist Hospital to change the “Economic Development (ED) Zone” to allow a medical campus at Hamburg, while protecting surrounding neighborhoods and farmlands from the development through set-backs, buffering, and other use restrictions. Please view the following links to learn more about the Alliance’s role in these negotiations, and changes made to the ED zone that were adopted by Council in 2006.
The Fayette Alliance’s Position Statement
Lexington-Fayette County Council’s Adopted Text Amendment to ED Zone.
However, Hamburg demonstrates how we must do better in achieving a sustainable growth strategy here in Lexington.
For example, in 2005, the World Monument Fund designated the inner Bluegrass Region—including Lexington-Fayette County—as one of the most endangered cultural landscapes in the WORLD due to its alarming loss of farmland to sprawl development. Lexington joins the Taj Mahal in India and the Great Wall of China on this list.
Yet, our local government estimates that we have over 8,000 acres of vacant, blighted, and under-utilized property inside our city for redevelopment.
In response to this phenomenon, The Fayette Alliance was established in May 2006 to educate the public and lobby local government to promote farmland preservation in Fayette County, while improving our city through responsible infill redevelopment and needed infrastructure. We have been hard at work.
For instance, during the 2007 Comprehensive Plan process, the Alliance successfully worked with community leaders and commissioners to stop an expansion of the Urban Service Area, and save over 7,500-acres of farmland from immediate suburban development. Check out some of our similar successes.
Let’s grow in a way that leverages our community’s rural and urban assets. If done responsibly, it will ensure our environmental and economic success today and beyond. But we need your help to make this a reality!
Please become an online subscriber for free at www.fayettealliance.com, and receive important email updates on how you can get involved in promoting our town, our farms, and our future.
