20th Anniversary

Fayette Alliance is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2026 with special events, limited edition merchandise, and new and exciting ways to get involved with our work.

About Fayette Alliance

Fayette Alliance was formed on May 2, 2006 in response to pressing local land-use and growth issues.

• Details: Community members saw a need to monitor and influence how the “Horse Capital of the World” was growing.

• address concerns about urban sprawl and the lack of focused infill and redevelopment,
• emphasize the importance of investment in our downtown and existing neighborhoods,
• work to improve our existing infrastructure,
• and combat threats to the iconic and productive rural farmland that surrounds the city of Lexington.

Over the past 20 years, Fayette Alliance has played a key role in elevating, informing, and influencing local conversations around land use, housing, and growth by putting facts and research at the center of decision-making.

Through independent studies, public opinion research, and policy analysis, our work has helped inform planning efforts, guide community dialogue, and educate residents and decision-makers alike on better understanding the long-term costs and benefits of growth choices.

The challenges facing Lexington may evolve, but our mission remains the same: advocate, educate, and research for smart, sustainable, and equitable growth in Lexington-Fayette County.

Historical Timeline

Celebrating Fayette Alliance’s 20th anniversary is about focusing on the next 20 years of growth, but also honoring our organization’s legacy and the achievements that have helped Lexington grow responsibly for the past two decades.

Below, we highlight key milestones and major policy efforts that Fayette Alliance has helped shape since its founding in 2006 — because we believe the strongest future is built on the foundation of the past.

• 2006 | Fayette Alliance was founded by community members and representatives from the equine, agriculture, neighborhood, economic development, and affordable housing sectors in response to pressing local land-use and growth issues; Fayette Alliance successfully advocated for responsible growth and against expansion of the Urban Service Boundary in the 2006 Comprehensive Plan.
• 2007 | Fayette Alliance advocated for responsible amendments to the Economic Development zone, promoting job growth while simultaneously protecting the Agricultural land surrounding the urban core.
• 2008 | Fayette Alliance was instrumental in helping establish the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Consent Decree to remediate catastrophic infrastructure failures as a result of urban growth outpacing infrastructure investment. This began a transformational process for $590 million in infrastructure improvements to Lexington’s storm water and sanitary sewer systems, which are scheduled to be completed in 2030. Since then, Lexington has won several awards for its clean water initiatives.
• 2009 |  Fayette Alliance supported Zoning Ordinance Text Amendments (ZOTAs) allowing adaptive re-use projects in B-4 and industrial zones. After passing, this ordinance encouraged infill and redevelopment in the downtown core and supported hundreds of millions of dollars in development along the Lexington Distillery District.
• 2010 | Fayette Alliance launched its signature education series Grow Smart Academy (formerly Citizens’ Planning Academy), a free program designed to educate Lexingtonians on land-use planning and its relationship to our community’s economic development, environment, and quality of life; Fayette Alliance served on the LFUCG Downtown Design Guidelines task force to make recommendations for innovative downtown investment.
• 2011 | Fayette Alliance, in partnership with Fayette County Farm Bureau and the University of Kentucky, commissioned the first study of the Economic Impact of Agriculture in Lexington-Fayette County; Fayette Alliance was chosen to serve on the LFUCG Affordable Housing Task Force that would result in the 2014 adoption of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
• 2012 | Fayette Alliance helped propel downtown investment and greenspace development by sponsoring the Town Branch Commons design competition; Fayette Alliance supported a ZOTA incentivizing walkable business districts which worked to create thoughtful infill and redevelopment throughout Lexington-Fayette County.
• 2013 | Fayette Alliance took part in a workgroup to update guidelines for responsible agritourism in Agricultural zones; Fayette Alliance served on the task force for Design Excellence initiative for downtown development; Fayette Alliance successfully advocated against expansion of the Urban Service Boundary in the 2013 Comprehensive Plan.
• 2014 | Fayette Alliance supported the creation of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, a dedicated pool of public money set up by LFUCG to help create, preserve, and support housing that’s affordable for people and families with low to moderate incomes. As of 2025, the Fund has used more than $40M to create or preserve more than 3,100 housing units; Fayette Alliance supported the federal HUD financing for the 21c infill and redevelopment project in downtown Lexington.  
• 2015 | Fayette Alliance commissioned an anonymous survey by the Matrix Group, resulting in clear data showing the Lexington community’s commitment to balancing growth and development with protection and promotion of Bluegrass farmland. Results from this study ultimately showed that a majority of residents did not support expansion of the Urban Service Boundary; Fayette Alliance supported LFUCG’s federal grant application for funding for Gatton Park on the Town Branch.
• 2016 | Fayette Alliance engaged in and supported the relocation and expansion of the Bluegrass Stockyards, an agricultural marketplace near I-75 averaging $200,000,000 in business annually, which serves as the largest cattle market east of the Mississippi River and sets the cattle price structure for the Eastern US.
• 2017 | Fayette Alliance commissioned the Underutilized Property Study to analyze infill and redevelopment potential and inform the upcoming Comprehensive Plan, which found more than 17,000 acres in Lexington-Fayette County with opportunities for thoughtful and innovative development and re-development; Fayette Alliance was a key part of the update to the LFUCG’s Rural Land Management Plan, helping guide land-uses and preservation efforts outside the USB, and supported increased funding for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. 
• 2018 | Fayette Alliance advocated for smart growth policies to be embedded into the city’s 2018 Goals & Objectives and Comprehensive Plan, resulting in a strong emphasis on preservation and infill and redevelopment as Lexington’s primary growth strategy and no expansion of the Urban Service Boundary; Fayette Alliance supported policy changes to encourage residential infill in commercial and underutilized properties through the B-6P ZOTA.
• 2019 | Fayette Alliance mobilized a coalition of local leaders and organizations to oppose HR346, a proposal to transfer significant decision-making authority over local land-use policy from Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG) officials to the Kentucky state legislature and state representatives in Frankfort. HB346 was ultimately withdrawn from the 2019 legislative session; Fayette Alliance supported a number of ZOTAs to encourage responsible infill and redevelopment, including appropriate regulation of ADUs, improvements to sidewalks and shared use paths, and more.
• 2020 | Fayette Alliance pivoted its educational programming from in-person to virtual in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, digitally delivered voter education materials through LexVote, in partnership with other community organizations including CivicLex, Fayette County Neighborhood Council, and the League of Women Voters to approximately 8,000 residents; Fayette Alliance supported a number of ZOTAs to implement the 2018 Comprehensive Plan, including removing parking minimums, increasing floor area ratio, and other policy changes to encourage infill and redevelopment.
• 2021 |  Fayette Alliance commissioned the updated GrowSmart study to illustrate underutilized land opportunities inside the Urban Service Boundary, producing actionable land-use recommendations from urban planning experts Lord Aeck Sargent; Fayette Alliance monitored and supported the work of the Sustainable Growth Task Force, established to help inform long-term land-use and growth policy for the community using data and research as an implementation item of the 2018 Comprehensive Plan.
• 2022 | Fayette Alliance advocated against developing a twelve-field soccer complex and professional stadium on prime agricultural land due to the risks it posed in weakening county-wide Agricultural-Rural (A-R) zoning protections. Fayette Alliance educated and mobilized stakeholders and community members, published op-eds and position statements, and ultimately filed a legal appeal against the Urban County Board of Adjustment’s decision. The facility was subsequently moved to another location. 
• 2023 | Fayette Alliance advocated against the proposed expansion of Lexington’s Urban Service Boundary by actively engaging in discussions at City Hall and throughout the community, commissioning an anonymous community-wide survey demonstrating the community’s opposition to expansion, authoring data-driven position statements, mobilizing community members, and ultimately pursued litigation efforts against LFUCG for the manner in which the boundary expansion process occurred.
• 2024 | Fayette Alliance publicly supported the Urban Growth Management ZOTA, a new, progressive city-wide zone change to encourage more diverse housing types, density along transit corridors, and mixed-use development in approved 2023 expansion areas; Fayette Alliance commissioned and released research studies documenting exactly how much vacant and undeveloped land remained inside the Urban Service Boundary; Fayette Alliance helped voters make informed choices in the 2024 local election by sending questionnaires to candidates in all 12 Urban County Council races, publicly supported the “Vote Yes for Parks” ballot initiative, and successfully opposed changing local zoning policy to accommodate industrial-scale solar development on rural agricultural land.
• 2025 | Fayette Alliance advocated for data-driven growth and preservation strategies to be included in the Lexington Preservation & Growth Management Program, which will guide future growth decisions around the Urban Service Boundary, ultimately publicly supporting the majority of the final draft presented to Council; Fayette Alliance commissioned an updated Economic Impact of Agriculture Study to highlight the importance of agriculture to Lexington’s economy; Fayette Alliance celebrated 15 years of its signature education series Grow Smart Academy (formerly Citizens’ Planning Academy).
• 2026 | Fayette Alliance celebrates 20 years of advocacy, education, and research for smart, sustainable, and equitable growth in Lexington–Fayette County.

$20-for-20 Campaign

As we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we’re inviting our supporters to help carry this work forward by committing to a $20-per-month donation for 12 months.

A monthly gift of $20 can help create powerful, steady support for Fayette Alliance’s mission to:

• Protect Central Kentucky’s iconic rural landscapes and farmland
• Champion thoughtful, well-planned growth in Lexington-Fayette County
• Continue hosting free educational programming for the community around responsible land-use 
• Fund and support the crucial research that helps guide data-driven decisions at City Hall

If just 85 people join our $20-for-20 campaign, it generates nearly $20,000 over the course of the year, creating reliable funding that allows us to plan ahead and respond when it matters most.

We designed our 20th anniversary $20-for-20 donation campaign as a way for our supporters to celebrate 20 years of impact and invest in the next 20 years of smart growth — and we want you to be able to celebrate in style.

One of the traits that makes Lexington so unique as a city is its blend of modern urbanism and productive rural agriculture — and finding the balance between these two is what smart growth for Lexington-Fayette County is all about. 

When you join our $20-for-20 campaign, you’ll choose the route that best represents the future you’re helping build:

• 🚲 The Urban Route – For those who champion smart growth, vibrant neighborhoods, and connected communities in Lexington’s urban core. 
• 🐎 The Rural Route – For those who are passionate about protecting farmland, open space, and the rural character that defines our region. 
• 🏙️ 🌱 Both – For those that want to show their support for both urbanism and agriculture.

Each $20-for-20 donation includes five different limited-edition merchandise items tailored to your smart growth preference.

1. A commemorative 20th anniversary t-shirt, branded to show your support for urbanism or agriculture.
2. A limited edition 20th anniversary hat, branded for equestrian supporters or pedestrian infrastructure enthusiasts.
3. A package of three different stickers celebrating Fayette Alliance’s 20th anniversary
4. A limited-edition, 20th anniversary lapel pin
5. A commemorative 8×10 print from local photographer Jeff Rogers, showcasing downtown Lexington or the iconic farmland that surrounds our urban core.

We hope you’ll consider celebrating 20 years of impact and investing in the next 20 years of smart growth by contributing to our 20th anniversary $20-for-20 campaign.

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