# Courthouse Area Design Review Board Meeting - August 14, 2019 > Auto-transcribed civic record · August 14, 2019 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/4810 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/4810?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2019-08-14 - **Last revised**: August 14, 2019 - **Length**: 3,936 words > ⚠️ **Auto-generated content.** Audio from the official Granicus video was auto-transcribed with OpenAI's open-source Whisper large-v3-turbo model, run locally by The Lexington Times. Structured facts were extracted with GPT-4o; the narrative summary was written by Anthropic Claude. Verbatim wording may contain errors. See [methodology](https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/about/methodology) or [report a correction](mailto:editor@lexingtonky.news). --- ## Meeting Overview The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government held a meeting on August 14, 2019, at 2:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber of the LFUCG Center, with Linda Gorton presiding as the meeting officer. The meeting addressed two primary agenda items, both involving development cases, with mixed outcomes for the proceedings. During the session, the council took three votes and heard one public comment from community members. Case No. 2-2019 involving Rugged Cross, LLC was postponed for further consideration, while Case No. 3-2019 concerning BCM, Inc. and J&J Partnership received approval from the council. The meeting demonstrated the council's ongoing work in reviewing development proposals and land use matters affecting the Lexington-Fayette community. ## Votes and Decisions The board took action on three motions during the August 14, 2019 meeting, all decided by voice vote. **Case Number 2-2019 (Rugged Cross, LLC.)** The board voted to postpone case number 2-2019 involving Rugged Cross, LLC. The motion was approved by voice vote with no recorded opposition. **Case Number 3-2019 (BCM, Inc. and J&J Partnership)** The board voted to approve case number 3-2019 involving BCM, Inc. and J&J Partnership. The motion passed by voice vote with no recorded opposition. **Meeting Adjournment** The board voted to adjourn the meeting. The motion to adjourn passed by voice vote with no recorded opposition. All three votes were conducted as voice votes rather than roll call votes, so individual member voting positions were not recorded. No specific vote counts, abstentions, or conditions were documented for any of the motions. The meeting materials did not include transcript timestamps for the voting portions of the proceedings. ## Public Comment During the public comment period, one community member addressed the meeting. Beverly Fortune spoke about the Lex Lights program, an initiative focused on improving lighting infrastructure in downtown Lexington. Fortune explained that the program aims to enhance the pedestrian experience throughout the downtown area while also highlighting the architectural features of buildings and structures. The lighting improvements are designed to make the downtown area more welcoming and visually appealing for residents and visitors. *Note: Transcript timestamps were not available for this public comment period.* ## Case No. 2-2019 (Rugged Cross, LLC.) Case No. 2-2019 involved a request from Rugged Cross, LLC for modifications to the building located at 117 N. Limestone. The proposed work included replacing windows and rerouting electrical wiring within the structure. The applicant requested to postpone consideration of this case during the meeting. No detailed presentation or discussion of the proposed modifications took place, as the item was deferred at the applicant's request. The case was postponed to allow additional time for preparation or to address any outstanding issues before bringing the matter back before the board for review. The specific reasons for the postponement request were not detailed in the available meeting materials. The outcome was that the case was officially postponed and will be rescheduled for consideration at a future meeting. ## Case No. 3-2019 (BCM, Inc. and J&J Partnership) The board reviewed an application from BCM, Inc. and J&J Partnership for new light fixtures at 200 & 206 W. Main Street as part of the Lex Lights initiative. The proposal included both festival lighting and LED uplights for the properties. Beverly Fortune and Tom Tawood served as key speakers during the discussion of this agenda item. The lighting installation was presented as part of the broader Lex Lights program, which appears to be a community initiative to enhance lighting along Main Street. The application specifically addressed two adjacent properties on West Main Street, with the proposed lighting featuring both decorative festival-style fixtures and LED uplight systems. These improvements were designed to enhance the visual appeal and safety of the downtown area. Following discussion of the proposal, the board approved the application for the new light fixtures. The approval allows BCM, Inc. and J&J Partnership to proceed with the installation of the festival lighting and LED uplights at the specified Main Street locations. The case represents part of ongoing efforts to improve lighting infrastructure in the downtown corridor through the Lex Lights initiative, with this particular approval covering the 200 and 206 W. Main Street properties. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — postponed (0-0): Postpone case number 2-2019 (Rugged Cross, LLC.) - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approve case number 3-2019 (BCM, Inc. and J&J Partnership) - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Adjourn the meeting --- ## Full transcript We get much shot. Some could go far from some way. Yes, I've been too long. Stand still. I could pick you up when it's gone. You reach out. You set me in motion. I'll see you next time. Thank you. Are you lonesome tonight? Do you miss me tonight? Are you sorry we drifted apart? Does your memory stray to a bright summer day when I kissed you and called you sweetheart? Do the chairs in your parlor seem empty and bare? Do you gaze at your doorstep and picture me there? Is your heart filled with pain? Shall I come back again? Tell me, dear, are you loved some tonight? I wonder if you're lonesome tonight You know someone said the world's a stage and each must play a part Fate had me playing in love with you as my sweetheart Act one was where we met I loved you at first glance You read your lines so cleverly And never missed a cue Then came act two You seemed to change You acted strange And why I've never known Honey, you lied When you said you loved me And I had no cause to doubt you But I'd rather go on hearing your lies than they go on living without you. Keep on doing it Right on Right on doing it You got it together Baby, keep on Oh, you got it together, baby Right on Keep on doing it Gotta get it, baby Oh, gotta get it I swear you got it together Keep on, keep on Whatever, whatever Yeah, I'll do it Forever and ever Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah I'll see you through I've got to keep you pleased in every way I can Gonna give you all of me as much as you can say Big love to you right now, that's all I want to do I know you need it, girl, and you know I need it too Cause I've found what the world is searching for Here, right here, my dear I don't have to look no more In all my days I've hoped and I've prayed For someone just like you Make me feel the way you do Never, never gonna give you up I'm never, ever gonna stop Not the way I feel about you Girl, I just can't live without you I'm never ever gonna quit cause Quittin' just ain't my stick I'm gonna stay right here with you And do all the things you want me to Whatever you want Yeah, you got it And whatever you need I don't wanna see you without it You've given me much more than words that have been made And oh my dear, I'll be right here until my dying day I don't... Thank you. I appreciate it. It was a day off. So the first item on the agenda is attendance, which we have already, we've got three people that we already signed, so that has been completed. The second item is the approval of the June 19, 2019 minutes. Can I get a motion? I move to approve. Second. Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. And none opposed, so motion passes. All right, we move to item number three on the agenda, which is postponements and withdrawals. I don't believe there's anything on, but I'll let staff answer that. I believe that the applicant for case number 2-2019, Rugged Cross LLC, is here and would like to request postponement until our next hearing. yeah we need it to be on the record so that's why okay so apologies for not being here last time i was unaware i was supposed to attend the meeting um but yeah i don't have so i have the architectural drawings in the works um so hopefully i'll have those to submit before the next meeting um also i don't know if this is important or if I just need to submit this later but we found a picture from the digital archives of the building that was in 1921 that's the same building I don't know that matters at all but I'll submit it later but I will have architectural drawings to submit to you next month does what is the August 31st needs to be submitted by the filing deadline is October 23rd the meeting will be on November 13th okay so how does that impact just curiously does that impact your timing are you okay still or yeah i mean we'll get approval whenever we can get approval i probably would not put a garage door in in november we would wait until it got cool warmer but um so you guys kind of cited that the slant of the building is important to the the era that it was built um so i don't know if it makes a difference that it was like already constructed in 1921 and there's been a lot of differences that have been or you know changes that were made to it and also the garage door is really just going to replace the window that is there so it's still be slanted it's just you know a pained garage door instead of the window that's there yeah i think that uh typically when we want to see the architectural drawings is because isn't as much that has to do with your building it does i'm not trying to say that does but in this instance it also has to do with any contiguous buildings that are next to it or or around it this is you know any any areas that are historical we need to take those into account what are the impacts um and i would let martin address anything else above and beyond that but that's a lot of times why they're important sure no i totally understand yeah absolutely particularly when the comment from staff is about the slope with relative to the historic character of that facade so I would recommend you work closely with staff to make sure that you have appropriate drawings just to show you guys exactly what it will look like exactly and that'll make it easier for you sure absolutely no problem yeah and staff in turn can can send those doesn't say is this enough or you know you can ask and request sure It's only anything that has to do with obviously the case being presented, discussed, or any of those things. That needs to be on the public record. That's why it needs to be done at this meeting. But we definitely can help and assist in terms of making sure that we have the information so you don't waste a trip up here. Okay. Cool. Okay. Awesome. Thank you. Anything else? Anything else, Martin? Okay. Appreciate it. Do we need a motion then to postpone, I guess? I think so. Yep. All right. Do we have a motion to postpone case number 2-2019? Move to postpone. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Motion passes. Thanks. All right. And there was no other postponement or withdrawals, I take it, so we're able to move on to 3-2019. Correct. Okay. Just want to be sure. All right, so that brings us to case number 3-2019, which is BCM, Inc., and JJ partnership. I'll allow staff to make any opening remarks. All right, this case is 3-2019 BCM Inc. and J&J partnership for 202 06 West Main Street to add building facade lighting. This is a proposal that is part of the Lex Lights initiative that you learned about at our last meeting, an initiative by the Downtown Lexington partnership to add lighting to downtown generally to enhance the downtown. The proposal here is for festival lighting with Edison bulbs along the existing canopies and for 11 LED up lights to be located attached to the cornice at each one of the 11 columns across the front of the building. And I think there are two on this side as well. So these are to be low intensity LED bulbs with color changing capabilities. capabilities. The fixtures themselves are only about five inches so the visible impact of the fixture on the structure is unlikely to be very significant. The design guidelines are fairly vague on lighting for buildings. There's not a huge amount of requirements or suggestions other than to accent architectural details, which is the intent in this situation, and to respect the architecture and the historical character. This structure is a significant contributing historic structure given its cast iron facade. So historic preservation did express some concerns with anything being done that could harm that facade. They also believe that there is an existing vintage cornice underneath the wood and metal cornice that you see now above the canopies and they would request that special care be taken to not damage that any further than it probably already is staff has recommended approval of this request based on the design guidelines and the limited impact that we think this proposal would have all right any Any questions for staff? All right, thanks. At this point, I'd like to call a representative or representatives up. Mr. Chairman, I'm Beverly Fortune. I'm coordinator of the Lex Lights program, which is an initiative of the downtown Lexington Management District to improve the after dark experience downtown. I think to get lights, more lighting on the sidewalks for a pedestrian friendly experience, and to use lights to accent beautiful facades and architectural features like we have on the McAdams and Morford building. We've been working on this since about, I started the 1st of April, and we officially launched this program, I think May 15th, with the Lights on City Center. If you have any technical questions, our lighting professional, Tom Paywood, is here to answer those. All right. Do we have some questions? I mean, I definitely have a couple for the lighting, yeah, from the lighting side. I think it would be great if we could just hear from you on a couple of those, if you had anything any remarks to open with and then we can ask any questions no opening remarks i think it was something i don't know if that's hot or not oh it's light nice um summarized it very well um the only thing that i would add is that we understand the history of this building um as a native lexantonian i used to eat pimento cheese sandwiches there growing up i get it um we've studied this building at at almost ad nauseum uh we've worked with uh the owners of the building on our electrical needs uh we've worked with the occupants of the first floor with regard to the establishments down there both hugo's and harvey's uh bars um to secure lighting around the canopies of that so it is indeed a two-part process as you pointed out on the on that the one is to up light from the cornice or what we call the ledge going up approximately 50 feet and the other is underneath the awnings it is low voltage it is RGB technology RGB is light color changing technology it's kind of a it's just a it's a I guess a term that's used within the industry this will all be done off of a low voltage transformer that will be located on the second floor of the building wi-fi access will be provided the second floor of the building and the lighting control will be operated by a designate of jim ross and and and joe rosenberg it's not us it's going to say well let's make it green for st patrick's day it's those folks that say let's do this or make it red white and blue or whatever they want to do for for whatever special occasion it would be. This is the fixture that we've been discussing. Do you want me to pass this around? Would you like to see it, touch it, look at it? Sure. Your call. It's cast aluminum, it's watertight. As I said, it's low voltage. The wiring will be encased in conduit that runs between the ledge and the front of the building. We're going to be using half-inch conduit there. initial thought is to paint that conduit the same color as the facade and then all connections will be made within conduit boxes that stem from the conduit to the fixture and then those will be anchored into there's as you pointed out there's a wood facade over that there's actually two different types of material up there one is wooden that takes up roughly two-thirds of the space and the other is a an aluminum not like it kind of like an aluminum roof if you want to think of it that way that we can also that we'd also mount those fixtures into and secure those so that nothing happens to them the fixture is black as she pointed out it's roughly five and a half inches tall from the from the street directly in front of the building you would not be able to see that fixture or any of the conduit or any of the inner workings if you're standing across the street you're most likely to maybe see about that much of the hood of that fixture so we wanted to go with something that's very nondescript nothing that stands out nothing tall the light would be positioned to on a 15 degree optic meaning that it's not a wide beam of light that goes up it's a very very narrow beam of light that emanates from the fixture and then it spreads as it goes up. We want to paint the archways across the top of that building and of course the overhang. You've got about a four or five foot overhang over those archways. It's not it's hard to see because you don't have dimension on a picture like that but that light stops at that overhang. So that's not a for us it's not an issue of light pollution. Having dealt in this business for a number of years, we're very cognizant of light pollution and we don't like light pollution. So we want our light to have a stopping point. And so that's how we design this moving forward. Any questions? I would say you address most of them. The difficult thing in my head is understanding what's happening at that ledge. I haven't seen it recently and the way you were describing it is I'm standing across the street. I only see a little bit of the hood of the light itself. Right. Is there a pocket? No sir. It's the ledge is about 20 inches deep. If you're standing on the second floor and looking out the window and down you can see that much of that ledge. The rest of it is invisible because it's so recessed back. You'd almost have to get on the ladder or go up there and take a look at it to see just how deep that ledge truly is. And it's level across there. So that was our concern. We don't want to be seen. I mean, we don't want to put stuff where people can see us. That's not our point. We want you to see the elimination of that. So we feel very confident that by the way that we disguise and hide that conduit running at the apex in that there's no recession but there is a 90 degree angle there that we can hide that and disguise it well and again paint it as need be to match the color of the facade yeah i would say uh other than the comment about being respectful to the potential of the historic cornice that exists below that I don't see anything that's we're very respectful of that we we got up there and and kind of tapped around to see what it was that we were actually dealing with and I actually got a parking ticket for doing that but it helped us a lot in terms of being able to make the right determination on the right fixture style how we're going to mount that fixture how we're going to secure that fixture all of the components that we deal with Other questions? Other questions? I'm not sure the, actually, that's Mr. Ross coming in right now, but do you happen to know the hours that the lights would be on? That would be determined by the owner of the building. The transformer itself is operated off of Wi-Fi. So the initial setup of that would be done by us, and then those credentials would be transferred over to the owner. The owner then makes the determination, okay, I want these lights to come on at dusk. Well, dusk is always a moving target, but your phone knows when dusk is. So as an example, tonight dusk is going to be at about 725. In December dusk is going to be at quarter after five. So those lights will come on at a different time each evening, and then they determine when the off time is. So they can override it and say, I want those lights to go off now, or they can say, I want them to go off at midnight every single night, or they can go off at 3 in the morning, or whatever that is. I'm only speaking to the up lighting on the cornice. With regard to the festival lighting, you would maybe call it cafe lighting. You've probably seen it at restaurants and bars outside. It's the Edison-style bulbs, the clear LED-style bulbs. those are going to be controlled inside the bar with a dimmer switch so that the bar ownership can control the brightness of those bulbs and also when to turn those on and when to turn those off those are completely manually operated yeah the only reason i had that question is um i know uh like city center is um they have theirs set to go off at i think midnight thursday friday saturday and 11 you know the other that's fine that can be done that's it's just a programming component sure any other questions um you've addressed my questions martin actually asked a couple of them um the paint wise i'm would you i'm sorry you i couldn't hear you i think he meant painting with light if i'm to understand what you were saying uh he was talking about actually painting the conduit onto it oh i'm talking about matching the conduit to the to the corners i was not talking about yeah did did at one point and i got the reference of painting the column with the light we call it painting or washing the wall with light or painting the areas with yeah i wasn't taking that as literal obviously okay i was more thinking along the lines of the you know i think it would be great to the fixtures it sounds like they're going to be pretty hidden that was one of my concerns the historic uh preserving of the cornice line and that that's underneath you've already addressed that so uh from my perspective i don't have any questions i think it's great i do think that it um brings up the bigger question and i think that is something to be addressed to the initiative and you know the more of these projects that we have one the street lighting I think is fantastic it needs to happen that's really really good the more of that that we can have the easier it is to you know at night get around downtown and and and from that the the up lighting I think it's great this is a beautiful building that should be accented and I think that night it can be hidden so that'll be nice I think that this the bigger question becomes the more of these products that we get is it kind of some sort of idea of coordination because you do that on this building and then we have a city center well now we get the one something maybe in between that residence in does it and then that you get you can 21c does it I'm not saying that's wrong, but I am wondering about the long-term plan or how to think it out or some sort of coordination with it, because otherwise it just becomes kind of haphazard. And I think that's something that I would, just as a comment from the board, we don't have jurisdiction to dictate anything when it comes to that. It's just an observation as we watch things organically take place, you know, it'd be great to have some sort of coordination or idea of what the plan is. And I think that's probably, if I were to guess, I think that's kind of coming to be right now. You know, maybe not put together, but it'd be great to hear what that is in the future at some point. but myself I you know from a business standpoint this is a great thing from a downtown standpoint I think it's a great thing and and I'm excited to see it take place any other questions all right well at this point I think we've heard from everybody anybody anybody from the public I don't think nope okay then I And I think that is at a point where we're going to put this up for a motion. Do I have a motion on case number 3-2019? Move to approve case 3-2019. All right, do I have a second? Second. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Motion passes. Thank you. It looks like the last item. Oh, did you have a comment? Okay, please come on. I'm General Ross. I own two-thirds of the building and was a little bit involved with keeping the urban renewal from tearing her down. And I want to thank this lady for all the work she's done. Thank you very much. We appreciate that. And thank you as well for the work that you've done. Go ahead. And thank you, Mr. Ross, for not tearing your building down, because I met my husband there 10 years ago. I actually met my husband there 10 years ago. Harvey's. But he worked for your firm. I've got another story. uh is I think we all need to confirm that we need to have. We need to have. We need to have. Well, I don't have anything to drop for this time. But thank you very much for sharing that. And also for sharing your thanks. I appreciate that to you for the hard work that obviously has gone into getting more lighting downtown, which is definitely a great thing to see. Item number five, it looks like we're on, the summary of staff approved authorization permits. There are none. Okay, great. Item number five is checked off. And we come to sometimes our favorite item, and that is item number six, which is adjournment. So do I have a motion to adjourn? Motion accepted. Motion. I move a motion or present a motion. Go ahead. Martin. Second. I move to adjourn. There we go. Second. And seconded. All right. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes and that concludes the Courthouse Area Design Review Board meeting for August the 14th, 2019. you