LuigART Makers Spaces
On October 23, 2014 Planning Commission unanimously recommended that City Council adopt the text Amendment to Article 22 of our Zoning Ordinance to establish a Planned Unit Development-2 (PUD-2) ZONE. In the coming weeks City Council will take the application under consideration. We will keep you posted of progress here at fayettealliance.com
Fayette Alliance supports a text Amendment to Article 22 of our Zoning Ordinance to establish a Planned Unit Development-2 (PUD-2) ZONE for the construction the LuigART Maker’s Spaces in downtown Lexington.
The LuigART $5 million development will be in a three-block area bounded by North Limestone Street, Maple Street, and R.J. Corman Rail Line, and West Seventh Street.
The proposed project is the first of its kind in Lexington, and if adopted, the PUD will establish an innovative live-work zone designed to support “maker-spaces” and related businesses in North-End of Lexington’s urban core. (View the NoLi CDC’s presentation on the development.)
A “maker space” is a physical location where people gather to share resources, work on projects, network, and build. The project will apply adaptive re-use urban design principles to leverage and improve the built environment of the historic North Limestone neighborhood.
NOLI CDC and the Planning Staff have worked together to craft the zoning proposal. Highlights include:
1. Several new land use definitions in the Zoning Ordinance:
- “Live/Work Space”
- Artist Studio
- Artisan Food and Beverage Production
- Artisan Manuafacturing
- Digital Makerspace
- Urban Agriculture
- Visiting Artist Housing
- Accessory Dwelling Unit
These new definitions—along with those uses that are proposed and currently defined by the ordinance— are categorized as principal permitted, accessory, and conditional uses in the PUD-2 proposal.
2. The LuigART PUD-2 Zone establishes design requirements that advance flexibility and the character of the existing neighborhood. Namely, the Planning Commission must approve a development plan for a parcel of property slated for a “significant change”.
3. The LuigART PUD-2 Zone calls for no required off-street parking for the development area. Instead, a “maximum vehicular use (VUA) will be required to limit off-street parking and the negative impacts of related surface parking lots on the neighborhood. This strategy will likely succeed, given the project’s emphasis on developing small-scale maker spaces and live-work units, the availability of on street parking, and alternate modes of transportation available in the subject area. The applicant may secure off-street parking for special events, etc.
4. The LuigART Pud-2 zone proposes a process by which the Planning Commission and the Urban County Council can adopt the zone changes for the subject area. Like other zone changes, no development plan is required, however a site inventory and analysis will be needed to establish the baseline conditions of the project. Such analysis will provide the basis for written guidelines by which the Staff and Planning Commission can evaluate future development plans associated with the project.
Fayette Alliance supports LuigART Pud-2 text amendment. This project is a game-changer that once complete, will increase Lexington’s cultural and economic currency. Additionally, it proposes inventive changes to the Zoning Ordinance that shifts development strategies and paradigms that will usher new, innovative growth in our urban core.
For more information about the PUD-2 proposal and our position you can read our complete position statement.