Dangerous Land Use Amendment 1 to House Bill 346 Withdrawn From Senate

An Amendment introduced by Senator Jared Carpenter that would have mandated future expansions of our Urban Services Boundary for economic development was withdrawn late Thursday, March 14, 2019.

If passed, this measure would have required that all cities have a twenty year land inventory under the guise of economic growth—regardless of local zoning policies or comprehensive planning processes. In practicality, the state—not local government—would control urban service boundary expansions, infrastructure investments, and budget priorities through this “economic development” mandate. Such a dangerous measure would have undermined our local government’s ability to establish and implement zoning laws unique to their communities, and responsive to their citizens. This would have created a financial, legal, and jurisdictional, crisis on many, many levels.

Thankfully, many hands were on deck—from zoning and city advocates, from economic development, neighborhood, agricultural industry, and rural preservation interests—to let our friends in Frankfort know that adoption of such a law was not an option.

Thanks to the strong leadership of Mayor Linda Gorton and her team, along with the hard work of our partners at the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, Kentucky Farm Bureau, Lexington Fayette Urban County Government, The League of Cities, and the Kentucky Association of Counties, the amendment was quickly withdrawn. We are also grateful to the Fayette County neighborhood Council for urging its members to contact their legislators and voice their opposition to the proposal.

While we escaped a close call last week, a similar amendment will likely be brought back during next year’s legislative session. Needless to say, Fayette Alliance will work with our community and statewide partners to establish a long-term strategy to ensure that Lexington—not Frankfort— will control its growth decisions… and future. Make sure you continue to follow Fayette Alliance on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to stay up-to-date on the latest land use news as we work to grow our city and promote our farms in Lexington.