The Fayette Alliance’s vision for Lexington-Fayette County builds on its history as the “Athens of the West,” while advancing a future that ensures a high quality of life for all citizens. In this vein, Lexington-Fayette County will strengthen its role as the economic, environmental, and cultural epicenter of the Bluegrass Region.
This vision includes a vibrant, beautiful city surrounded by productive Bluegrass farmland.
To achieve this vision, Lexington-Fayette County will:
Protect its prime farmland for agricultural use by the equine, general agriculture, and food industries, while promoting its signature Bluegrass landscape for the pride and enjoyment of the entire community and in furtherance of developing cultural tourism;
Secure the infrastructure necessary to achieve appropriate environmental conditions vital to the health and happiness of every citizen, including requisite facilities, improved sanitary sewer and water quality systems, and the reduction of our carbon-footprint;
Vigorously pursue innovative and responsible development opportunities to secure long-term economic success, adequate affordable housing, appropriate historic preservation, good building design, efficient transportation networks, and needed greenways.
Thereby becoming a world-class city in a world-class Bluegrass landscape.
Our Commitments
The Fayette Alliance is steadfastly committed to advancing the following land-use policies at city-hall and beyond—to achieve a world-class city in a world-class Bluegrass landscape:
• Protect key agricultural areas from adverse development and encroachment.
• Promote the efforts of the LFUCG Purchase of Development Rights Program and the Bluegrass Conservancy, which preserves the factory floor of Fayette County farming forever.
• Promote the renovation and improvement of infrastructure that services Lexington, including our sanitary sewer, stormwater, water quality, and transportation facilities.
• Promote the healthy and responsible development of land inside our current Urban Services Area using various programs such as the land-bank authority, abandoned urban property commission, enterprise zones, tax increment financing and other incentives, design guidelines and overlays, efficient and transparent land-use planning processes, and the LFUCG Downtown Masterplan and other small-area planning initiatives.
• Promote environmentally sensitive, energy efficient, and sustainable development using incentive programs that encourage best management practices, and local greenway and parks systems.
• Promote increased access to affordable housing through incentive programs, and potentially an affordable housing trust fund. Affordable housing is a housing cost that does not exceed 120% of median income.
Our Platform
In 2007, The Fayette Alliance Infill Taskforce finalized a working draft of The Fayette Alliance’s policy platform. Every week, the Alliance works with local government and civic leaders to adopt these policies–for our town, our farms, and our future.
This report is a starting point on many important land use issues, and may be subject to change upon further community discussion, review, and refinement.
Members of The Fayette Alliance Infill Taskforce include:
- Infill developers Phil Holoubeck, Greg Padgett, Robert Trujillo, and Holly Wiedemann
- Affordable Housing expert and past executive director of Lex. Habitat for Humanity, Grant Phelps
- Fayette County Neighborhood Council members Emma Tibbs and Judy Worth
- Agricultural community representatives Don Robinson, John Phillips, and Margaret Graves
- Executive Director of The Fayette Alliance Knox van Nagell
Download The Fayette Alliance’s Policy Platform Recommendations
