Lexington mayor won’t sign county’s growth boundary expansion

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) — Lexington mayor Linda Gorton says she won’t sign legislation to expand the county’s growth boundary, which was approved by council last week.

Gorton, in a letter to council members, said she won’t sign the legislation to expand Fayette County’s growth boundary because the city’s “Urban Service Boundary has served us well, preventing expensive sprawl and supporting intentional, planned development.”

She added that she’d like to see “a data-driven expansion, based on the recommendations presented by the Sustainable Growth Task Force” and “some of the underlying mechanisms of Goal 4 Group” to know “exactly when and how much to grow.”

The end of Gorton’s statement noted the legislation will go forward without her signature.

At the council’s Thursday, June 15 meeting, members voted to expand the growth boundary by opening up to 5,000 acres of rural land for development.

Under the proposal, the planning commission has until Dec. 1, 2024, to identify between 2,700 and 5,000 acres for expansion.

Below is Gorton’s letter to council members in its entirety:

“I watched and listened carefully to your many hours of work to craft the Goals and Objectives (G & O) for the 2023 Comprehensive Plan for Lexington-Fayette County, Kentucky. It was obvious you cared very much about the importance of this effort to the future of our community, and you acted deliberately to address some of Lexington’s greatest concerns. In the end, the vast majority of you voted to support the revised G & O.

Lexington’s decades-old Urban Service Boundary has served us well, preventing expensive sprawl and supporting intentional, planned development. Our efforts to fill in vacant land inside the boundary have been key to maintaining our valuable agricultural economic engine outside the boundary.

Our community is growing, which is a good thing. I understand the need for equitable planning policies and expanded housing and employment opportunities to accommodate this growth and to meet the needs of all our residents. I understand our boundary will change; however, a data-driven expansion, based on the recommendations presented by the Sustainable Growth Task Force, as well as some of the underlying mechanisms of the Goal 4 Group, is imperative to knowing exactly when and how much to grow.

For these reasons, I have decided not to sign the Goals and Objectives Resolution (No. 0644-23) as approved by the Council on June 15, 2023. This legislation will go forward without my signature.”