The Fayette Alliance Champion Fund

2024 Mid-Year Appeal

Fayette Alliance’s 2024 Mid-Year Appeal is a chance for our Grow Smart Champions to demonstrate their continued support of our mission — finding the balance between our vibrant city and our productive rural landscape.

About the Champion Fund

We introduced the Champion Fund in 2023 as a response to serious policy changes that stand to impact land use in Lexington-Fayette County for generations, and its initial launch was met with resounding support.  The funds raised were used to:

• Ensure land-use decisions made by local officials are research-based and driven by community engagement, protecting our neighborhoods and farmland from unsustainable development
• Advocate for smart growth policies that prioritize affordable housing, responsible infrastructure, and inclusive planning
• Empower our community through enhanced and expanded outreach and education programs. 
• Today, our community faces a new challenge that needs your attention and action.

Now, in 2024, our community faces a new challenge that once again needs the support of Grow Smart Champions.

Industrial Solar

Recently, two large utility-scale solar projects have been proposed within our Rural Service Area, covering over 1,000 acres of prime soils in eastern Fayette County.

• Important: We support renewable energy development in industrial areas, on rooftops, and in our already-built environments, but we are concerned about the impacts large-scale solar facilities will have on our region’s most precious resource — prime and irreplaceable soils.

These developments in agricultural zones could lead to environmental degradation and the irreversible loss of valuable farmland.

• Also: We are concerned about the precedent set by permitting these types of development in our agricultural zones, and believe it may open the door to other industrial and commercial uses in areas designated specifically for agriculture.
• Consider: These two developments have the potential to change land use patterns in our rural area for more than a generation.

Fayette Alliance is involved at both the state and local levels as it relates to these projects, but community engagement is key. That is why we need your voice and support.

Support Smart Growth

The Fayette Alliance Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit, fully funded by individual donations.

Our ongoing advocacy, education, and research, along with our ability to react quickly to important growth issues like the one described above, would not be possible without contributions from like-minded community members like you.

Your support is vital to our mission of responsibly growing our city while protecting the farmland that defines our region.

Donate

Will you contribute $100 or more to the Champion Fund to help ensure that Lexington-Fayette County remains a premier place to live, work, and play? 

Become a Grow Smart Champion

Grow Smart Champions believe that Lexington-Fayette County should be a national model for responsible growth and development, and understand the importance of finding the balance between our vibrant city and our productive farmland.

The Champion Fund is a way to monetarily support the advocacy, education, and research of the Fayette Alliance — ensuring that growth decisions for Lexington-Fayette County are based on data and research — today, tomorrow, and for generations to come.

Contribute $100 or more to become a Grow Smart Champion. You’ll receive critical updates on the litigation process from our Executive Director and members of our Board, as well as other exclusive opportunities to dig deeper into Fayette Alliance’s work

For more information about becoming a Grow Smart Champion, please contact Jared Sexton at Jared@fayettealliance.com or (270) 537-3954.