Lexington’s Preservation & Growth Management Program

The Lexington Preservation and Growth Management Program will guide growth decisions around the Urban Service Boundary and must be formalized by August 31, 2026.

Update | September, 2025

A special public meeting about Lexington’s Preservation & Growth Management Program will be held on Tuesday, September 16th at 6:00 p.m. in Council Chambers.

• Details: Attendees will get an update on the newest draft plan and get an opportunity to share their thoughts.

• Remember: Once finalized, the P&GMP will help decide how and when to expand Lexington’s historic Urban Services Boundary.

After the in-person meeting, around mid-September, there will be an opportunity to provide feedback online through the Engage Lexington public forum.

• Next Steps: The final draft will be shown to the General Government & Planning Committee on Tuesday, December 2nd. The plan could then move forward to the full Council for a final vote in early 2026.

About the P&GMP

As many of you probably know, in 1958, Lexington was the first US city to establish an urban growth boundary.

• Need-to-know: This boundary dictates where the city can grow, and where farmland should remain protected and undeveloped.

• Important: Since its founding, the boundary has changed, expanded, and even shrunk — but there has never been a formal process, or set of rules, for deciding how to change this boundary.

The P&GMP aims to fix this issue by establishing a data-driven process for making growth decisions.

This means: Future expansion decisions will be based on facts and numbers, not just opinions — something Fayette Alliance has been advocating for since our organization was founded nearly 20 years ago.

This image shows how Lexington’s Urban Service Boundary has changed over the years. ➡️

Draft Details

The latest version of the P&GMP includes several improvements that we are happy to see included.

Most importantly, the draft calls for developing an annual growth report and data center that will keep centralized information on growth trends, jobs data, residential and commercial data.

Additionally, the plan calls for:

• Focus on infill and redevelopment first: Before expanding the Urban Service Boundary, the city will prioritize building on land already inside the boundary.

• Clearer roles and duties: The draft explains the responsibilities of the Council, Planning Commission, and a special Subcommittee that will look at possible areas for expansion if data indicates it may be necessary to meet 20 year housing needs.

• Limits on land expansion: There will be a cap on the number of acres that can be added for housing needs.

Areas of Concern

The city’s planning staff have been very diligent in outlining best-practice growth decisions within the Preservation and Growth Management Plan, and we are thankful for their thoughtful and important work.

As the draft plan continues to move forward, we hope to see the following areas of concern addressed:

Vacant Land (Section 1 of Proposed Ordinance)

Right now, the plan proposes that only empty land be considered to meet housing needs — leaving out existing redevelopment opportunities inside the Urban Service Boundary.

Our research shows that redevelopment could meet housing needs equal to the most recent expansion.

• We recommend: Including redevelopment in evaluations to ensure future housing assessments reflect all available opportunities and development realities.

Locational Criteria (Section Five of Proposed Ordinance)

If vacant land for housing is deemed necessary, proposals must meet three criteria:

• Contiguous to the Existing USB

• Adjacent to an Arterial/Major Collector Roadway

• Access to Sanitary Sewer Connections

We recommend: More information be considered when evaluating property for inclusion within the Urban Service Boundary, including:

• Infrastructure Costs

• Environmental Impacts

• Soil Quality

• Conservation Focus Areas

• Historic Areas and Scenic Byways

• Community Input

Public engagement is also missing from this step. Adding a public hearing before the Subcommittee finalizes recommendations ensures growth reflects community priorities.

A thorough review of financial, cultural, and environmental factors is vital before identifying land for expansion.

Economic Development Criteria (Section 7 of Proposed Ordinance)

This draft of the P&GMP removes land for jobs and economic development from the housing discussion.

• What’s concerning: It instead allows Council to set aside acreage for “special economic development” at any time.

Without proper guardrails, this proposal risks undermining the concept of our Urban Service Boundary.

• We recommend: Requiring unanimous Council approval for this to occur, setting clear criteria, and ensuring transparency.

• Additionally: Requiring an account of vacant commercial and industrial land, plus a review of the past 20 years of land use, jobs created, and revenue generated on parcels over 50 acres, would help ensure a data-driven decision.

These steps will strengthen accountability and ensure Lexington grows responsibly while protecting its unique identity.

Next Steps: 

This process is still ongoing, and the next important step to finalizing the Preservation & Growth Management Program is taking place this week at City Hall on Tuesday, September 16 at 6 p.m.

After the meeting and in the weeks that follow, city leaders, planning staff, and community members will continue working together to make the best growth plan possible for Lexington-Fayette County.

The P&GMP could shape Lexington’s future for decades to come — that’s why, it is imperative we get this right.

Get Involved:

We encourage you to make your voice heard on these issues so the final draft reflects the best possible process for our future.  —

• Option 1: Join us at the public input session on Tuesday, Septembereither at the public input session on Tuesday, September 16 at 6 p.m.

• Option 2: Email the Councilmembers and Planning Staff.

Fayette Alliance believes that by balancing new housing, job opportunities, and farmland preservation, Lexington can grow in a way that supports both urban development and rural preservation.

History

In June of 2023, the LFUCG Urban County Council adopted the Goals and Objectives of the city’s comprehensive plan known as Imagine Lexington 2045.

• Within the Goals and Objectives, an expansion of the Urban Service Boundary (USB) was mandated by Council, which resulted in 2,800-acre expansion for housing and jobs.

• Remember: The Urban Growth Master Plan was adopted to guide development in those 2,800 acres.

• Additionally: Council mandated a formalized process be established by August 31, 2026 to guide future decisions about growth and expansion of the Urban Service Boundary.

Lexington’s Preservation and Growth Management Program (P&GMP)

The formalized expansion process has come to be known as Lexington’s Preservation and Growth Management Program (P&GMP) — placed into committee by Councilmember Liz Sheehan in January of 2025.

• Consider: Fayette Alliance has been advocating for a data-driven decision-making process like the P&GMP since our organization was founded in 2006.

• We are excited to be part of this conversation and look forward to seeing how a formalized process can ensure better decision-making and responsible, sustainable, and equitable growth moving forward.

Goals and Priorities:

• Creating a data-driven process to inform decisions around expansion of the USB

• Developing a formalized decision-making process

• Ensuring community input

• Preserving significant agricultural areas

• Growing in appropriate areas

As we mentioned, this program must be finalized by August 31, 2026 — 16 months from now.

• Below is a timeline for the 2025 P&GMP in the General Government and Planning Committee.

70 Years in the Making

Lexington was the first city in the United States to formally adopt an Urban Service Boundary in 1958.

• We believe this forward-thinking decision demonstrates our community’s historical commitment to being good stewards of our finite land.

Since 1958, other cities have followed our lead and adopted Urban Growth Boundaries to balance urban growth with their natural landscapes — Portland, OR; Boulder, CO; and Fresno, CA to name just a few.

• However: While we initially set the standard for stewardship, other cities have implemented formalized data-driven decision-making processes for guiding growth.

• Factors that guide expansion decisions for other cities include population and economic growth; land supply analysis, including examining the density of existing development and identifying potential infill and redevelopment opportunities; environmental impacts of expansion; and more.

While Lexington’s USB has changed, expanded, and shrunk throughout the years, we have not formalized an expansion process since the USB was established in 1958.

• That means our community has 16 months to adopt a process that is nearly 70 years in the making.

We have to get this decision right.

Get Involved

An online survey is available for all residents of Lexington-Fayette County to complete

until Tuesday, April 15.

• This is the easiest and quickest way to make your voice heard about this historically important issue.

• More info: We will be providing additional details about our recommendations for this process in the coming weeks.

• In the meantime: Read more about our advocacy on this process during the last Comprehensive Plan, or learn about where Fayette County residents stood on these important issues.

After the survey closes, a community-wide public input session will be held on Thurs., May 22 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Senior Center on Life Lane, 195 Life Lane.