2010 Growth Questionnaire
1. What is your vision for Lexington-Fayette County?
I see Lexington as a pristine community achieving world class status as a truly great place where people and businesses want to be. The unsurpassed beauty and elegance of our horse farms, our connection to history, and our ever expanding arts and cultural scene, create the potential for Lexington to become a major tourist destination and one of the great places to live. We can make progress towards world class status by vigorously promoting and nurturing our economy, by helping the University of Kentucky achieve Top 20 status, by making Lexington an easy place to start and operate a new business, and by devoting more resources to economic development, urban planning and the arts. With a vigorous economy, we can repair and upgrade our infrastructure, address our many social needs, and afford cultural amenities such as parks, trails, urban design and public art that make Lexington a great place to live. WEG has proven that we are world class.
2. As a Councilmember, you will adopt the “Goals and Objectives” of the Comprehensive Plan—which governs land-use in Fayette County. Do you support an expansion of Urban Service Boundary during the next Comprehensive Plan Process?
I support Lexington’s infill and redevelopment programs, but know we have much work to do to make our laws compatible with increased density and mixed uses. One of the main reasons for expanding the Urban Service Boundary is to prevent home prices in Lexington from escalating out of the reach of ordinary citizens. We are presently in the worst economy for new home construction that we have seen in many generations, and sales of existing homes have also plummeted. As a result, I am not aware of factors that would create overwhelming pressure for expanding the Urban Service Boundary. However, information will be presented to the Urban County Council during the comprehensive planning process on which our decisions will rest. My obligation is to keep an open mind and not to decide the issue until we hear all of the testimony and all of the evidence. We must pursue a fair and open comprehensive planning process.
3. As a Councilmember, what will you do to ensure that the land bank authority is properly established? What should be the criteria for awarding parcels for infill-redevelopment projects and/or real estate deals?
Land banking is a proven method for addressing vacant or abandoned parcels of land within a community, thus reducing crime, improving property values, and improving appearance of neighborhoods. I support Lexington’s infill and redevelopment efforts, and support the creation of criteria to make sure that unused properties achieve their highest and best use. To the extent abandoned or unused land is not suitable for infill and redevelopment, I support a land bank authority to manage abandoned and underused land. However, I am unsure how we will fund this program before our economy and city revenues recover.
4. Will you support continuing funding of at least $2 million, annually, for the PDR program?
I support Lexington’s PDR program, provided funding of PDR during these difficult economic times does not deprive other critical programs of necessary financial resources.
5. As a Councilmember, how will you address Lexington’s affordable housing needs?
I support the creation of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, but do not know how this program will be funded during these difficult economic times.
6. As a Councilmember, would you change the LFUCG Divisions of Planning, Building Inspection, & Code Enforcement? If so, how?
We need to stream-line LFUCG Divisions of Planning, Building Inspection, & Code Enforcement by allowing citizens to apply for permits through the internet. We also need to create extra capacity in these departments so that we have personnel available to modernize and update our programs and ordinances. We must modernize, update and plan for Lexington’s future by adopting and incorporating best management practices from other cities.
7. As a Councilmember, how will you handle CentrePointe and similar development projects moving forward? How will you implement the Downtown Master Plan and its recommendations?
The CentrePointe problem was created by a lack of consensus regarding demolition and urban design within Lexington’s urban core. Basically, our existing laws allowed the demolition of an entire city block. Downtown demolition and urban design are presently being addressed by the Council’s Planning Committee, and I am hopeful that this process will lead to a more broad based agreement among Lexington’s key stakeholders on these issues. The Council is also moving forward with putting into action many of the guiding principles of the Downtown Masterplan, and I look forward to continuing our work on these important objectives as funding becomes available.
8. As a Councilmember, how do you propose addressing—in the long term—the student housing issues in Lexington’s established neighborhoods? How should LFUCG incentivize infill in the Urban Service Boundary, while protecting the character of established neighborhoods?
I worked vigorously behind the scenes with the key players during discussions leading up to the Council’s recent resolution of the ‘vinyl box’ issue. The new ordinance gives more clarity to both property owners and LFUCG Divisions of Planning, Building Inspection, & Code Enforcement, and will stem the tide of ‘apartmentization’ of Lexington’s established neighborhoods. However, we have much work to do to make sure that increased infill and redevelopment does not result in incompatible adjacent uses or other deterioration of our established neighborhoods.
9. Fayette County agri-business and agri-tourism generate over $3 billion for the regional economy each year. As a Councilmember, how will you promote these signature industries?
Our agri-business and agri-tourism industries are some of Lexington’s ‘golden geese.’ Lexington’s unique brand and identity depend on our pristine horse farms and racing industry, and we must protect them at all costs. We must work very hard to ensure that these crucial parts of our economy are not lost to more attractive racing venues in other states, or to ever expanding development. Over the next 50 years, we must carefully plan our growth so that our citizens will continue to have ample and affordable places to live, and so that Lexington’s signature agri-business and agri-tourism industries will continue to thrive and prosper.
