But, you know, the thing that I share with constituents when they call is that the city has to be consistent. Right. We can't, you know, do for one resident and then not do for the other. So I think that's where a lot of the rub is. But, you know, at the end of the day, I think people are pretty understanding and appreciative of the services that y'all provide. Yes. And take responsibility for what's theirs and what's the city's. Right. Tell me a little bit about, so the last year and a half, last two years have kind of been a whirlwind of things with the pandemic and what's been going on. What changed for your department when the pandemic hit? You know, there were some people that stayed at home, you know, for social distancing reasons. How were y'all impacted when that happened? Yeah, my group, you know, I get kind of emotional when I'm talking about these, the men and women here, because they came to work every day. Because of the line of work that we do, we couldn't do the work from home. We couldn't service a line or unstop a city's main from home. So the dedicated men and women of sewer line maintenance came to work. One of the biggest changes that we had is that our interactions with citizens. Because we deal directly with them, sometimes it puts us and them in a bad position. But one of the biggest things that came from this that helped us out is we didn't have to go inside of your house now to unstop your line if you had to clean out in your basement or garage. That limited COVID exposure for us and the citizens. I'm glad to hear that your folks have continued to do their job day in and day out, that policies have changed to make it safer for everyone going forward. There's been a lot of conversation about heroes pay. Yes. And I know some folks don't, you know, don't like to use that term because I think that a lot of people first think about our public safety partners, which, you know, have shown up to work and done their job as well. But there are several divisions in the city that are classified as essential workers and that I think are interested in seeing what we're going to do to make sure that they get compensated or address the issues in regards to being exposed and being at work and being exposed to the virus in the pandemic of currently. I was going to say last year, but we're still not out of it. Right. So I know that's on the horizon. Any other thing that you want to share with us about your division and the folks that work there? Yeah, I forgot to mention also that, you know, we have a, during the winter months, we also participate along with streets and roads and snow removal. If you use Richmond Road, Main Street, and Leastown Road to Devath City, we do everything on the north side. We do snow removal in the winter and then also upcoming fall, we have a storm crew that cleans out the curb inlets. Okay. A lot of times, especially the next couple of months where the leaves start to fall, rain, those curb inlets stop up, we'll come out, vacuum hose out. It's a great place to work, great place to learn multiple trades, concrete work, blacktop work, pipe work, TV work, and we're busy 24-7. So what you just shared with us is that y'all support streets and roads and some of our other divisions in city government. Y'all not only do your job, but y'all also are tasked with supporting some of the other divisions that we have as well. Yes. And I'm glad you had touched on the sewer line, not sewer line, but the storm system clean out. Yes. You know, when you say sewer line maintenance, I think people's minds go straight to toilets and sinks. But there's also a responsibility to make sure that we keep those storm sewer inlets clean and things flowing nicely. Right, right. It's very important. A lot of times you see people pouring glass, grass clippings down those. You also see people pouring oil and whatnot down there because it's, I guess it's convenient for people right outside the house to dump unwanted things down. But it's also dangerous because those things lead to waterways. So we want to make sure that we keep our curb in its clean, debris, and also use them as they were designed, which is to collect rainwater. Yeah, I'll tell you what, today was very educational. I didn't realize, I know there's storm sewers, but I didn't even factor in that they lead to other water sources like streams and creeks and rivers. So that's interesting to know. You know, on behalf of myself, and I'll say my mama too, because my mama's got a, she had a big tree in her yard, and it was giving her the blues for years until we got that addressed. But on behalf of everyone, we appreciate all you do, you and your team and the folks in your department and the services that you provide for the residents of our city. Thank you. The men and women of sewer line maintenance, appreciate you taking the time to come out and see what we do. Okay. All right. Thank you, Jim. Thank you. Hi, everyone. am amanda maize bledsoe and i'm the city council person for the 10th district today i'm joining you from southland park this is a really special park in fact it's one of the community parks in the 10th district it's home to a lot of schools a lot of kids come and play here in fact southland pool was the pool that i grew up going to the swim team on and visiting all the time we're so thankful for the the impact that southland park has been for this neighborhood and we're excited to bring you some updates but first of all i want to take a moment and update you on clays mill road I am so pleased with the progress this summer. As you well know, we made a risky decision to close the road during the summer break. Our hope was to make sure that the project was completed and the road was back open before school started and we met that goal. Now we know we're not finished. There's still some finishing work to do. Some of the grass needs to grow a little bit and we have some work to do a little bit on the water quality, but that's okay. The road is open and we're really pleased. I want to give a special shout out to Director Doug Burton and the team at the City of Lexington, as well as ATS who worked tireless hours to make sure we got the kids ready to walk across those roads during school just in time. You can see more about the project at the site below. And now we're gonna turn our attention to Waco Drive to Pasadena. In fact, we hope to have Waco to Pasadena done by the end of this year, the end of 2021. And then we'll turn our sites north and move from Stratford downtown. Thank you so much for listening to a little bit about Clay's Mill Road. One of my priorities as your council member has been infrastructure. In fact, as you well know, flooding in this area has been going on for a very, very long time. And the impact and the improvements that needed are not easy. In fact, they take a massive amount of infrastructure development, some road tearing up, and some big pipes being installed. And it's taken us several years to get this to a place where we can move forward. And I'm very pleased that we're close. In fact, we're closer than we've ever been. The good news is that we will have some big improvement here at Southland Park. We'll actually improve the water in the retention basin, so the water that we're trying to move off the streets and roads in many of your backyards will actually end up here, which is really exciting. And those plans have been in the works for a long time. We finally hit the 90% mark, and you can look on the site below, and you can see those plans all the way through. The benefit is that we'll have the water off the roads, and we'll have some water quality improvement in the area. The good news is, by expanding the water basin here, we're actually going to make some impact in the park. As you know, this playground has been here for a long time and it's wonderful. There's lots of room to play and the kids really enjoy being here. So we are getting ready to do some work. In fact, we're going to move it. And I know that's going to be a little bit of an interruption. I'm glad we got to use this summer actually playing on the park. And it'll probably take us between six to eight weeks, depending on the weather, to move the park from here to here. So joining me today in this project is Director Monica Conrad, who's Director of Parks and Recreation here at the city, who's been really instrumental in making sure that we do this project very well. That we're spending tax dollars wisely and we're making the needed improvements to this park so we can enjoy it for years and years to come. So Director, thank you for joining me. Thank you. One of the things we've talked about is what's coming here. So why don't you give me a little bit of a timeline on what's going to change and how fast we're going to change. Absolutely. Thank you, Councilmember Bledsoe, for these improvements to the park. important to our community and your support of our parks is always so appreciated. So we're going to see some big changes. The playground that is behind us will now be the water quality detention basin. So the playground itself will be moving here to the basketball court, which is going to be awesome. It's going to have a new nature play seesaw, a safari jeep, that all tie into really the conservation that we're trying to do here with this basin. The basketball court will be actually moving to the other side of the pool. So we'll be removing a dumpster enclosure there, putting the new basketball half court there, which will give great line of sight to Hill and Dale. It'll improve the safety of this area as well. We're also going to do some new improvements on the shelter, adding an art installation that our friends of Wolf Run, as well as the Southland Park neighborhood association have helped us create a great kind of wetlands natural element art display it's going to be one of our first in a neighborhood park and we're so excited it'll be here at southland it is going to be very cool that's these are those opportunities that you get once you start to do some improvement you look for where else can we capitalize and bring new partners in and i think this has been a great illustration of how a water quality project has turned into really an entire community project. We're going to have streets and roads improvements. We're going to have water quality. We're going to have really a big improvement here. And then we're also going to have a whole new park that will be based around that theme. Now, the tennis courts are all staying open during this time? That's right. The tennis courts will remain open. The basketball court and the playground, as soon as we start demolition, which should start hopefully in the next week or two, will take about a week to do the demolishing. So while that's happening, the playground of the basketball court will not be available. We certainly encourage folks to use those parks that are closer to us. But, you know, six to eight weeks after that demolition, we should see a brand new playground, basketball court, this art installation, just really great improvements to the park. Just in time for the fall, right? When it finally is cool enough to play outside some more. That's right. Now, I know we've talked a lot with our neighbors about how to improve this park over the years. And there's been some times where safety has been something that we've talked about, especially this pavilion, this area right here, is kind of insulated, which is great for kids. But sometimes after dark can be one of those situations that having more eyes on it will be better. And so moving the basketball court to the pool was an intentional move on our behalf, and I think will be really nice for the neighborhood and for others who want to play. It'll be easier, actually, for the pool, too. You'll be able to see, do multiple things at one time, which will be really nice. And we're keeping the softball feel here, which will stay the same. Thank you. Thank you. I'm going to go to the next video. Thank you. Thank you. I'm going to go to the next video. good afternoon everyone welcome to the uh october meeting of the board of adjustment we have a medium-sized docket today i want to make sure that everybody who intends to speak today has signed in on the sign-in sheet in the back of the room so if you have not signed in and you expect to speak please go sign in and we will make sure that we get you with all your information your name, address, phone number, and such. The first item of business is the approval of the minutes. Did you all get the minutes from August and September? And if so, I'll entertain a motion regarding the minutes. I move for approval of the minutes from August 9th, 2021 and September 13th, 2021. Thank you, Ms. Carter. I second the motion. Thank you, Ms. Whitman. Motion has been made and seconded. All in favor, please vote electronically. motion carries the minutes of august and september are approved before we get to the swearing of witnesses we want to do something very special we have with us present today a former member of the board of adjustment who served with the board for three consecutive terms which is the full full load of terms that you can serve and i'd like to recognize janice meyer if you would come up dan we have a a certificate of service with your name on it i want to make sure the cameras get that wherever that wherever that's going to be. I don't see any close up yet, but this is, uh, this is for you. And also a, a, a pretty good size, hefty paperweight to commemorate your service and congratulations. Thank you for your service on the board of adjustment. Thank you. usual we will do we do this every time we run through the agenda to see if there are any matters that can be disposed of in a summary fashion those uh for that can't or those that have opposition and we need to have hearings for our we need to have witnesses heard we will put those at the end of the docket but those that don't require witnesses or there's no opposition or there's no opposition from the staff we will hear those first and so i'll go through the agenda to identify those and then we'll and then we'll carry on with the docket the first case i'm sorry swearing witnesses is the next item of agenda so those who anticipate that they will testify today in today's hearing please stand and raise your hand do you solemnly swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth thank you you may be seated now we will go through the agenda and identify those that we can hear in a summary fashion the first case on the docket is PLN BOA 21-53, Candace and John Setzer. Are the applicants present? I see a hand raised. You're here. Is there any opposition to the application of Candace and John Setzer? Anyone in the audience who objects to this application? I see none. The second item on the docket is PLN BOA 21-54, Southern and Jones Properties, LLC. Is the applicant present? Oh, back in the back? Okay. I see a hand up. Is there anyone who wishes to speak in opposition to this application of Southern and Jones Properties, LLC? I see no hands. You'll be second on the docket. The third is PLN VOA 21-57 Hills Properties. Is the applicant present? Mr. Chairman, members of the Board of Adjustment, I'm Fred Eastridge, representing here on behalf of the owner. We'd like to ask for a one-month postponement on this plan. And what's your grounds for asking for a postponement? We have, well, the grounds are is that our attorney is not available to attend the meeting today due to illness. Okay. The staff has recommended disapproval of this application, So we will leave it up to the board. Anyone on the board want to make a motion to postpone this 21-57 Hills properties for one month? I think that seems like a fair ask. So I'll make a move to postpone PLN BOA 21-57 Hills Properties request. Thank you, Mr. Needham. Is there a second? I'll second. Thank you, Mr. Clark. Motion's made and seconded. We will pull this up on our screen and vote on the motion. Technology is a wonderful thing. I think Mr. Clark seconded the motion. There we go. Please register your votes. Motion to postpone has been approved. See you next month. Thank you so much. The next item on the agenda is PLNBOA 21-39. The Arcadia Company is an applicant present, applicants present. and is there opposition to the arcadia company's application mr miller okay we will hear that at the end of the docket you and mr woodall you and mr what all talked might be helpful for you to talk well because it'll it'll be a while before you get to you so if it would be helpful for you to talk directly with each other I would recommend that you do so and you can do so out of the hall if you like thank you both the next item on the agenda is PLN VOA 21-58 LFUC housing authority is applicant present mr turner is there opposition to 21-58 lfuc housing authority anyone who wishes to speak against this application I see no hands you'll be I see no hands in opposition oh is that a hand in opposition information. Sure. Would it be helpful for you to to discuss that while we go through the remainder of the docket? I'm sorry, I can't understand you. Why don't you come up to the podium so we can hear you? I'm with the East End Community Development Corporation. And what is your name? Please. Your name? Billy Mallory, and I'm the director of the East End Community Development Corporation. There was no public engagement, so there's a lot of unanswered questions. So we can't really oppose or support if we don't have adequate information to give to our residents. Sure. And we submitted a list of questions but did not get a response. We only recognize those who wish to testify in favor and those who wish to testify in opposition. So are you one or the other? Please. We only have two categories, those who are in support or who are in opposition. So how would residents get more information? That would be my question then. if there was no public engagement well you you could talk with the applicant or with the staff and you i guess you could have done that from the time that you heard of the application until today or or you can ask questions when that case is called at the end of the docket our questions were submitted to planning staff over a week ago okay do we have uh correspondence we do have those questions i believe you all have those available to you in granicus and i have a copy here or no i'm sorry you don't because we just got it this morning um but we do have a copy here that that you all can review um okay and if the applicant would like to take a look as well that way maybe they can have a chat with miss mallory in the meantime i think that'd be helpful uh i'm going to i'm going to put you uh uh at the end of the docket so uh if you all can get together and discuss those issues uh with each other uh that would be helpful and it might be helpful not only for you but for the board to clarify any issues that might that you all might be able to resolve before this matter is heard before the board so i would ask i'm going to put this at the end of the docket and ask that you and mr turner go outside and discuss those questions those issues between you perhaps he can answer your questions and if he can and you're satisfied we will put you back on the summary docket all right thank you mr chairman we'll be glad to discuss those with ms mowery uh this is the first time we have seen them so i understand sure well Well, do what you can, and we will try to make it as convenient for you both as possible. I'm going to determine that to be a case in opposition. We will hear you at the end of the docket. Next case on the agenda is the last case. it's an administrative appeal 21-55 dbsp llc is the applicant present okay applicant is present is there any is there anyone in opposition to the administrative appeal of ds i'm sorry dbsp llc anyone in opposition in the in the audience i see none thank you very much Okay. Okay. Now we'll go to the summary docket and hear those cases for which there was no opposition recognized. And the first case is 21-53 Candace and John Setzer. if you all would come up to the podium there may be questions the staff has recommended approval you all were here last month and we suggested that you postpone this hearing until today perhaps to allow you to submit a an amended application looks like you have and looks like you've satisfied the staff at least and let's see if anybody on the board has any questions of you Anybody have any questions? Mr. Chair I'd like to ask if you could explain the difference between last time and what modifications you've made in order for the to achieve staff approval here that would be appropriate I think. We were unaware until we came to the meeting last time that of the 10-foot building code so we amended it from six foot what we originally proposed to 10 foot nobody we didn't know about that so difference that was the change we made yes that's what I thought I wanted to be sure thank you any other questions if not I'll entertain a motion mr. chair Thanks to these folks for making the modification. I think it was a good proposal, and we were subject to the laws of the land, so to speak, and we appreciate your modification. I'd like to make a motion to approve PLN BOA 21-53, Candace and John Setzer, for an amended request for a variance to reduce the required street side yard from 30 to 10 feet in order to construct an in-ground swimming pool in a single-family residence R1D zone on property located at 857 sunny slope trace based on this the staff's recommendation and subject to the three conditions as listed thank you mr clark do we have a second i'll second the motion thank you miss whitman motion has been made and seconded we will have an opportunity to vote there it is please register your votes motion carries your project is approved good luck thank you very much Next item on the docket is PLN BOA 21-54 Southern and Jones Properties. Applicant, would you please come up to the podium so we can ask any questions if there are any. the board has recommended approval and we'll see if anybody on the board the staff has recommended approval we'll see if anybody on the board has questions Any questions? I'd like to ask a question about trees on the property. How will you deal with that? It seems like from what I could tell from the overview, there were quite a number of trees pretty close to, well, maybe exactly where you're planning to build. What are your plans to deal with the trees, please, sir? There are a few nearly dead trees on my actual property, but those are very narrow lots. So 99% of the tree canopy that you would see by driving by are on the adjoining property. So we will not be removing those. That's good. Thank you. Thank you. I didn't get your name. Tell me your name. David Jones. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Any other questions for Mr. Jones? If not, I'll entertain a motion. I move for approval PLNBOA 21-54 Southern and Jones Property LLC's request for variance to reduce the required side yard setback from six foot to three foot in order to construct a duplex within the defined infield and redevelopment area in a high density apartment zone on property located at 530 Marino Street. And this is based on the staff's recommendations and subject to the two listed conditions. Thank you, Ms. Carter. Is there a second? I'll second. Thank you, Mr. Clark. made and seconded please register your vote motion carries a project is approved good luck to you thank you Hill properties has been postponed. Arcadia company will be at the end of the docket. LFUC housing authority will be at the end of the docket. So the next one on the docket is Administrative Appeal 21-55 DBSP. Applicant, please come forward and tell us your name, please. My name's Angel Robinson with Main Event Entertainment. Ms. Robinson, the staff has recommended that we approve your application. We'll see if anybody on the board has any questions to you. Yes, sir. Any questions for Ms. Robinson about this application? The two signs that are going to be facing New Circle, I read it, staff's analysis, and those two signs are actually less in size than one big sign. Is that how that reads? Okay. Yes, and also there is no sign that we're proposing on the rear facade, which faces the multifamily. So it would actually be facing New Circle Road. when we when we got that image i think updated just recently that today maybe um i didn't actually see two signs what were there two signs there are two signs okay there's one that is the main event sign okay and then closer to the front facade on the corner of that side facade it says eat bowl play okay and that's on the outside it is okay look maybe it was recess behind glass so on the front facade there's an equal play sign but it's recessed three and a half feet inside the building and structurally supported from the ceiling okay yes i mean it seems reasonable so you're going to have signs on two walls is that right there's signs or the show from show from two directions it'll be on three sides of the building so both sides and the front but no signs on the rear facade gotcha yes sir i got to say your the drawings were submitted that were probably easily understood by an architect or perhaps an engineer even but i'm sorry now that's that's quite all right i'm sure they were helpful for whoever was making this project work any other questions for Ms. Robinson? If not, I'll entertain a motion. We're putting up an elevation if you all would like to see the wall. I'm sorry. We have two signs. Yeah. Yeah, there are three pages of signs. It was difficult for me to tell where exactly they were. So this facade is the side facade that would actually face New Circle Road and the banner sign in the middle that says main event. They've just blown that up to give you greater detail dimensionally up above. And then towards the front facade on the right side of that elevation drawing is the stacked equal play. Okay. I'm sorry, that was confusing. Sometimes more detail is not necessarily a good thing. I'm easily confused. Any other questions for Ms. Robinson about this application? Hearing none, seeing none, I'll entertain a motion. Mr. Chair, I recommend approval for PLNBOA 21-55 DBSP's request for an administrative appeal to allow the applicant to forego the allowable wall sign on the rear wall of a building in order to allow two wall signs on the sidewall of the building in a commercial B6P zone on property located at 240 Canary Road based on staff's reasonings and subject to the four conditions. Thank You Mr. Needham. We need a second. Ms. Carter seconds. All those in favor or register your vote. Motion carries. Your project is approved. Good luck. Thank you. That concludes the summary docket. We have two cases that are on the expanded docket. And Arcadia Company, depending on how the next case comes back, I notice that you all have witnesses, which may take a while. If their matter can be approved in a summary fashion, we may interrupt you and hear them first first so they don't have to sit through your all of your testimony too but They're still out in the hall. So we'll take you next and so the case will be PLN be away 21 days 39 the Arcadia company the staff has Recommended approval mr. Woodall They the board may have questions for you. So why don't we ask? questions of you first to see if they're see if there's any thing that the board would like to know about this application. Sure. And I spoke to Mr. Chairman, Mr. Turner, before the hearing and just let him know that we'd be glad to let them go first, given the number of witnesses. Sure. Thank you very much. Does anybody on the board have questions or have questions of Mr. Woodall about this application? I don't think the moment I mean if I know there was still some uncertainty about how the proposed parking lot was going to be situated but I'm not sure if that's gonna make if we need to discuss that now or that gets included or is that something we even need to discuss well you can ask him okay what's that look like I believe that what staff had indicated was they would prefer that the parking lot be situated in the rear of the building if that could be done in conjunction with the septic system and I know that the septic system as proposed has been approved by county officials so we just we hadn't gotten to the situation of discussing the location of the parking lot but at the end of the day it's something that can be done yeah is the to the drawings those submitted drawing does that show the parking lot where it's where you propose to have it yes is that that doesn't look like it's in the rear of the building is it the original depiction is in the front mr. chairman okay well that's something that could be altered yes if need be yes okay I don't believe that it would it would conflict with the septic system as approved. Okay. Any other questions? Mr. Chair, if you're going to talk about that, I would like to just bring this up. I'm not sure this is the time to do it, but I'll do it and then we can talk about it later if necessary. But I did a little poll of all the schools in Fayette County and almost every single one of them have parking in the front and there are reasons for that. And so if we get to that point, I'd like to make a suggestion if the staff could approve that or at least let us suggest that, that requirement for parking in the rear is probably not really necessary. And there are reasons for parking in the front where you have ready access to offices and so forth. So anyway, when we get to that point, perhaps we can talk about that further. Yes, sir. And the application shows parking in the front. Yes, sir. Okay. Any other questions for Mr. Woodall? Well, maybe we, I know this was postponed, but did we have a brief overview? I mean, do you mind to tell us a little bit about the project? Typically, staff would make a presentation of... But they're requesting approval, right? Right. Typically, when we recommend approval, we do not make a presentation. Yeah, we'd definitely like to make our presentation now. I think that'll help the questions. Okay. I'd say now's the time. Okay. Fantastic. um ladies and gentlemen of the board my name is john woodall i have the pleasure of representing the arcadia company in this application and the arcadia company is gus lafontaine and kristen lafontaine they will both be addressing you today to talk about their vision and this project i will tell you that that they are both residents of madison county kentucky Gus has a degree in elementary education that he obtained in 2007 and a master's in educational leadership that he obtained in 2008. In between, he is a member of the United States Army and currently still a member of the Kentucky Army National Guard and did two separate tours in Iraq in 2005 and Afghanistan in 2010, where he was awarded the Bronze Star in service to our country. It was during that time that he came up with this idea in conjunction with Kristen and to revolutionize what we've come to believe, as far as educating young children at the preschool phase. And he'll explain what they do, but in essence, they integrate nature into the curriculum, whether that be through small animals, alpaca, a smaller breed of livestock, bees, to explain that process, things of that nature to, as Gus will say, to get them off the screen and out in the sun. So this is what they do. And so instead of coming back from overseas and going back into the traditional classroom, they started this school. And Kristen is involved heavily, as she'll tell you, in the educational side of this venture, and at the same time raising their five children. What we propose to do here, This property is located at 5768 Tates Creek Road. It's right out on the, essentially on the Jesmond County, Fayette County line, just past the Ashgrove Road or Brandon Road turnoff there. And, you know, on your way to the haunted house if you've been there, went there Friday night. Something else. What we've got to do here, this is an agricultural zone. So we've got to have a conditional use permit to place this school for academic instruction and an accessory nursery school. We're talking about roughly 72 kids ages 3 through 7. We'll have roughly 10 employees Monday through Friday from about 7.15 in the morning until 5.30. There's an existing mobile home there right now, and I believe four or five children live there. that will be removed and in its place this new 4,900 square foot building would be constructed you mentioned parking we call for 23 parking spaces at this location staff has graciously reviewed our application and has recommended approval They've determined that this proposed use should not result in any significant increase in traffic, and that's going to be a big thing you hear with the opposition. The other is safety. Our septic system, as we said, that was also a point of contention. It's been approved by the county health officials. Let me take you through. let's see which button we got Chris there we go there was a question about whether we had the owner's application for permission to file this application we do and that is that's what that exhibit shows you with our application and yeah Gus is going to discuss his current operation their current operation in Richmond, and how they're situated to their neighbors over there, and what a good situation that that's been. That's what that exhibit will show you. This exhibit right here is important. You're going to hear a whole lot about safety and the fear that somehow these kids are going to rile the horses and a horse is going to run through the fence. As its property is situated currently, you'll see the distance, I call that a mowing width, 16.4 feet between the first fence to the right of the first fence is the Overbrook farm property and then in that mowing strip is the mower Overbrook farm property and then there's another row of fence and so the area to the left of that fence closest to your to your podium here that is the applicants of the property we proposed to purchase. As I said, staff has recommended approval of our application. We are certainly amenable to all of the conditions that they have proposed. Rather than you listen to me any further, I want to introduce you to Gus and let him share his vision and just the experience that he's had with the current school that they operate. So Gus, without further ado, jump in. and tell us your name yes Gus LaFontaine thank you for the opportunity today I've prepared some remarks and so I'd like to share those with you at this time it's become our life's work to educate young children and over the past decade our style has evolved and John touched on that he mentioned that we currently operate what we call the nature school in Madison County and that's an outdoor learning experience in nature. In Madison County we do that on 12 acres and we found it to be a great success down there. I think it's because people recognize the value of a learning environment where children are spending a great amount of time outside. Nowadays it's not uncommon to to feel that screens are replacing the sun and soil and so we're trying to combat that by offering this type of learning environment outdoors. So what we're seeing in Richmond is that families that grew up on or around a farm or who now live in neighborhoods and with their own children desire to share the kinds of experiences they had as children with their own. They want their child to grow a garden. They like the thought of their children being responsible for their environment and learning how to be good stewards and caretakers of it and they especially like these experiences to be connected to academic learning outcomes and so that's what we seek to deliver at the nature school we don't feel the same opposition as our objectors today we feel like we share their goals we value this part of our culture in central Kentucky and we appreciate those that drive important industries like the horse industry and those at Overbrook farm. We seek to do our part by preparing the next generation to develop an appreciation of these things that we're discussing today and it takes a proactive approach in our opinion or things like screens are going to win out. If we don't invest in our children then I'm afraid to make that our ability to maintain this important part of our heritage will be lost as we go forward. we can't solve that whole problem but we can do our small part and that's what we're seeking to do with the nature school so thank you for your time and I'll be followed by my wife Kristen my name is Kristen LaFontaine thank you for letting me have the time to address this planning commission I'd like to address the topic of safety which has been brought up I am a mother of five children they're now aged nine eight twin six-year-olds and a five-year-old and at one time their ages were four three one one and an infant and considering they've all survived my mothering I'd like to present myself as an expert in the chat field of child safety but not really but on a more serious note I'm also involved in our schooling operation which has served hundreds and hundreds of children over the past decade we wouldn't be able to provide such a service if safety wasn't our top priority it is in our mission statement so on the topic of safety at the proposed nature school on Tate's Road there's already a precedent for for successful and safe operations around horses in our very own Kentucky Horse Park. The Kentucky Tourism webpage makes known that the horse park serves more than 800,000 people a year. It goes on to say that no other place on earth celebrates this special relationship between humans and horses like this park. Visitors have unparalleled opportunities to get up close and personal with many breeds of horse. Now I'd like to make clear that we are not an operation like the Kentucky Horse Park, so it's not a perfect comparison. Our students will not have up close and personal interactions with horses. When they see them, it will be from a distance and separated by three levels of fence. There's an additional exhibit that shows that the inside fence also contains some kind of a, I can show you a picture of that. You can see there's like a wire on the property side. So we call that a third level offense. So even in those observations, those children will be in a controlled and supervised environment. So we're very familiar with risk mitigation. we want the commission to know that we will apply proper risk mitigation strategies as we lead children in this unique learning environment. We want you to know that we take the safety of those we are entrusted with very seriously. Thank you for your time. Thank you, ma'am. Any further questions for me, Mr. Chairman? Any questions from the board of Mr. Woodall or his witnesses and clients? Anybody have any questions? I understand that the school may hold up to 72 children operating five days a week from morning to late afternoon, Monday through Friday. and you're going to build a new building, 4,900 square foot building. So that's the case for the applicant. Thank you very much, Mr. Woodall. Thank you. Let me interrupt to ask Mr. Turner if you all came to some understanding while you were out discussing your case in the hall. Yes, Mr. Chair. We did. We answered, I think, all of Ms. Mallory's questions to her satisfaction, but she would like to speak to that and indicate her support and concern. Hmm. Yeah. They're talking about the Arcadia company. Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were, I thought you spoke to me. We did. Yeah, we did. We asked if you had reached an agreement. I understood you just say that you had. Ms. Mallory would like to make a few comments. This is on a different case. This is the, as I indicated earlier, we're going to interrupt the Arcadia Company's case if we can conclude the Housing Authority's case in a summary fashion. So if we can do that by hearing from Ms. Mallory, we can do that. I believe we also have another citizen who has some interest in that application that Mr. Turner might be able to speak with. Ms. Clark, I believe, is here on that case as well. I wasn't aware of Ms. Clark. We've already opened up the Arcadia discussion. It might be best to just move forward with that one. I'm sorry. I don't understand what's going on. There's people that want to be heard in the other case, so she was suggesting we complete the Arcadia case. They want to be heard? Beck was suggesting that, yeah. on the housing authority case okay well i'm sorry mr turner we're going to put you at the end of the docket we will conclude the arcadia company's case i appreciate it mr chairman and hear from okay with that brief interruption i understand there's opposition to the arcadia company is that correct mr miller we'll hear from you now And I will say that Mr. Woodall's statement and his client's testimony took about less than 15 minutes. How long do you anticipate your opposition to take? We are organized, we'll be brief, and it's doubtful we'll be finished in 15 minutes because of the number of witnesses. Perhaps 30. How many witnesses do you have? We have four witnesses. Okay, how long do you anticipate that that testimony will take? My presentation and that testimony, 30 minutes or less. Okay, proceed. Thank you. Let me say from the outset that we're not anti-education. The principals of Overbrook Farm are great believers in education and have supported it throughout the community. nor we are opposed to nature schools for children. It may be an excellent idea in the appropriate spot. This is not the right spot for it. We have a number of objections, and we will support those through witnesses. The applicants were completely silent about traffic. And if you would please, I've brought a series of videos that will play silently during our presentation. We want you to see what traffic is like on Tate's Creek Pike at 7.15 to 8 o'clock in the morning at the site where the school is. We've got a traffic expert in Al Gross who will be testifying about traffic studies, his knowledge of what is required by the Department of Transportation, and his physical observation of what you see. imagine adding 70 to 80 cars a day at about the same time most going from north to south trying to turn left across this traffic and the same number of cars coming in the opposite direction to pick up their students. Can you continue the video? Overbrook Farm is a world-renowned thoroughbred horse farm. It is very important. The industry is very important to our community. It's a $4 billion per year industry in this area. And it's very important that all of us appreciate the beauty and the economic benefits of horse farms in our community. community and the dangers that the children and the construction and the people and traffic are going to be to the individual who currently boards horses at the farm. Sally Thomas, we have provided her written statement and what she has told you is that even if there are fences dividing the children and the horses, there's still a danger to the children who could climb over the fence, get in the field, which happens on a regular basis, on the other side of Overbrook Farm where there is a church. And when they have events there, they have people climbing the fences to pat the horses. What Miss Thomas is particularly concerned about is that her horses, and we've shown you pictures, will be at the fence immediately adjacent to the school. And they are very fractious, particularly the young ones. And she is concerned that the noise from the children or having something thrown at the horses will cause the horses to act up and create a danger for her employees and her. Mr. Young, in his written statement, and he'll present in person, reminded the board of an incident a few years ago where a balloon from a subdivision got into the Overbrook Field and ended up killing one of the valuable animals there. We're also concerned about the ecological impact of having the septic tank there, and we have provided to you a report from an engineer that has addressed the difficulties in that particular area because of the clay of the leach fields working properly and we are concerned and a neighbor who will be testifying is concerned about the impact that he and his mother will have on the property. I would like to call Mr. Al Gross to identify himself and to make a provide you information on his concerns about the traffic. Mr. Gross Members of the board, for those of you that don't know me, I'm Al Gross. I'm a partner in the firm of EA partners. We've been operating in Lexington for approximately 40 years, primarily development related work and work for the transportation cabinet. When Mr. Miller called me on this case and asked me if I could help him out and describe to me what was proposed, I echoed the staff's position relative to traffic. The trip generations from a facility this small or minimal, the average daily traffic or the flow on Tate's Creek Pike is not substantial relative to concerns of typical traffic engineers, traffic experts, and certainly relative to the compliance process within this urban county government doesn't rise to the level of 100 plus trips a day, which is sometimes the threshold used to ask or request additional traffic evaluation and study. During the process of scrutinizing the site plan that was a part of the application, which is fairly elementary, and I know we'll get emboldened as this continues towards a building permit, there's not much detail relative to any proposed improvements. there's not any detail relative to any proposed improvements on Tate's Creek Pike. No turn lanes, no safety provisions relative to the movement in and out of the access that's proposed. The access itself is rather steep. It is comparable to Mill Street between High Street and Vine Street. So think about that for a moment and reflect upon that as this process moves forward. That's a pretty steep incline, and those folks are going to be traversing that incline on a daily basis with young children. And there's nothing on the site plan that indicates that there's going to be any major deviation in what is existing today. So after taking a look at those types of things and kind of embodying my opinion a little bit, I sat out there on a Thursday morning from 7.30 a.m. to 8.30 a.m. to count traffic in five-minute intervals and to do an elementary speed study to see how fast traffic was moving across the frontage of this property at that time of day. And if you're not familiar with Tate's Creek Pike as you traverse from the urban area of Lexington out to the rural area, I know you're familiar with parts of it. You have a nice four-lane facility at the beginning that narrows down to a nice two-lane rural road. And that two-lane rural road has got 24 foot of pavement and paved shoulders. And that describes the frontage for the school property. So it's an adequate transmission route. Then as you travel farther to the south, it narrows into a severely compromised rural road. You've probably got less than 18 feet of pavement. You have no shoulder. it's it is a true county road typical of many county roads in the rural areas of Fayette County when you're moving from south to north coming into town you're on pretty much high alert when you're traveling that narrow that narrow piece of piece of asphalt and then you gradually or you you you open up rather rather abruptly into a 24 foot wide two 10 foot paved shoulder urban rural arterial and it's like sitting in a dark room and turning the lights on all of a sudden oh you've got confidence now your speeds increase and and and you're moving quickly into into the full four-lane section which is which is almost expressway like it's not expressway like because the access control is not related to expressway travel. But you are emboldened and you are driving fast, and that's what the speed study that we performed evidenced. The travel speeds in front of the proposed site is in excess of 55 miles an hour. The posted speed limit is 55. These cars are traveling around 60 miles an hour without deviation. And during my count to that hour, there were 424 cars moving south to north, all of them traveling roughly at 88 feet per second. That's what 60 miles an hour is. That's a tremendously high rate of speed, and it is being confidently driven. It screams for a left turn lane to protect the southbound traffic as it wants to stop and turn into the site at the very least. So that's my testimony. I'm here for any questions, but there needs to be, if this goes forward, significant improvements made for the safe transportation of those students and those young parents. traveling in and out of that school. Thank you, Mr. Gross. Any questions from the board to Mr. Gross about his testimony? Mr. Gross, I have one or maybe two questions. The proposed school is on the east side of the road, is that correct? And Overbrook Farm is on the same side of the road. Correct. Is there an entrance, is there egress and ingress to the farm from Tate's Creek? Overbrook Farm? I believe there is, yes. Okay. How far away from the entrance to the proposed school is the entrance to Overbrook Farm? I do not know. It's not terribly lengthy. Okay. It's not terribly close either. Okay. That's all. Thank you. Any other questions for Mr. Gross? Thank you. I'll call Terry Judd, who works at Overbrook. He's facilities manager, and he can answer directly your questions on the distance between the access to Overbrook. Terry, identify yourself, and if you would, address first the traffic and then the horse issue. Terry Judd, Operations Manager, Overbrook Farm. In answering the question that was just asked about the distance between our entrance and the entrance that we're concerned about, that's probably around 100 to 150 feet. it's not it's not real far I know from experience that our entrance turning into the farm we've had two two people hit there that work for the farm through the years that were basically rear-ended waiting to turn in so to say that traffic is an issue in this area it can be an understatement it's because if you've tried to pull out of there during rush hour whether it be in the morning or the afternoon. The thing is that you've got five lanes that come out of town counting the center lane. So you've got two lanes going either way and basically when they get to East Hickman Creek they converge. So instead of having two on either way now you're going down to one either way and so everything kind of bottles there once you get past Asgrove Pike. And obviously that continues. The problem there is that the speed, for the most part, people don't slow down. They go down to the two lanes and they carry on the same speed. Now you're going to what's basically a hilltop turn to turn left into Overbrook or what would be the school. So traffic is going to be an issue. There was no turning lane there. It obviously means everybody that's behind whoever is going to have to slow down, stop, depending on how many cars it is, and wait. I think it's going to be a real issue. And describe please the issue with delivery of hay and other supplies to Ogilbrook and how that impacts. Well, I mean in the same way only it's a lot slower for a feed truck or van whatever to pull in as opposed to automobile. but you've got the same concerns there. And, you know, if they had carried the two lanes with a turn lane on out, probably wouldn't be having this discussion, but that's not the case. And what has been your experience of getting into and out of the Overbrook drive between 7 and 8 in the morning? I can safely say that you can sit in Overbrook's driveway that faces East Hickman, or not East Hickman, but Astro Pike, which takes you to Brandon Crossing now, and you could easily sit there for 10 minutes just to cross the road. And that's not an exaggeration at all. Just like he said, the guy earlier, I think he said 400 and some odd cars in the one hour that he was there or 30 minutes, whatever it was. It's extremely busy. And all it's done, it's gotten worse since the Brandon Crossing conversion. And I don't see that getting any better. And do you work with horses, and what concerns, if any, do you have about 72 children and 10 adults being in the field next to the horse? Well, my concern is not only the horses, and what I'm speaking of now is yearlings, yearlings, weanlings, young horses. And the lady that leases that property, obviously these are all paid tenants for her. So she has a tenant that has a mare. She takes care of the mare. She foals the baby. She then raises that baby, that foal, until it's probably going to be a yearling and go through the sale, which means they're going to go to the sale and hopefully make a substantial amount of money off their investment for that previous year. You put a yearling in a situation where there's a lot of noise, anything chaotic, and all they're going to do is they're going to react the way a flea animal reacts, and that is And trust me, after 37 years, it doesn't matter if there's fence in front of them. They run through it. And when they run through it, sometimes they die. A lot of times they're hurt beyond ever racing. I mean, this is a real serious situation for this lady that leases this property. I mean, there's nobody there to pick up the cost of that for that client. So, I mean, it's pretty serious. So I'm clear. The property that is contiguous, obviously, Overbrook Farm, they lease that property. So they are the owners, but then they lease the property that is contiguous to this land. Is that correct? Yes. Okay. Where is she? Is she here? She is not here. No. Okay. She did submit a letter, I think. We have her letter, Mr. Needham. Okay. She came to the first hearing. It was continued, and she's not been able to be here the last two. Okay. Okay, thank you. Do you have any questions? Any further questions to Mr. Judd? Thank you, Mr. Judd. We've asked Kenneth Schlick, the next-door neighbor, to briefly set forth his opposition. You do have a letter from him as well. Tell us your name, please. My name is Kenneth C. Schlick II. My mother and I live on the 40-acre track that goes to the north and east side of that property. It's the original farm. The Cochran's lived there. They sold it to us, et cetera, back in the late 60s. So we've been there since the late 60s when it was a two-lane real country road, no traffic at all. And I'll get to that. I had four objections in my letter that y'all have. And the first one is, you know, talking about these children's safety thing. One of my nieces named Miss Pamela. And my sister-in-law and my brother, her husband, her name is Pamela because when my sister-in-law was young, she lived in Springfield area, Lebanon, Kentucky, you know, on a big farm. and her toddler sister got in with the pony and the pony kicked her and killed her. So that is why I have a niece named Pamela. So I know that children, young children and horses, I know they can be compatible in certain ways, but that fence they just showed you, I got twin five-year-old nephews that come out every weekend for dinner because my mother has dinner for all her children, five of us that still live in town, and all the grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And those two five-year-olds could scale that fence in two seconds. So I don't know. I hope there's a bigger fence than just that wire mesh fence that's just the normal-sized fence for a horse. So children and horses and young horses are not very compatible. And the second thing about the traffic now, when I turn out of my driveway, because my driveway is the driveway is going to be the driveway before the entrance of that school. When I turn to come out and go into Lexington, more than half the time now I have somebody going up my tail 65 miles an hour coming around that turn, which is going to be their entrance. So that happens all the time. Coming out, as they talk about the traffic flow, it scares me to stop to turn into my own driveway to the left because it's very narrow then coming from the floor. I came out a few weeks ago with my mother, taking her somewhere, and when we came by East Brannon or Ashgrove, I don't know what they call that now. It was Ashgrove Pike, but I think it's East Brannon Road now. They're going to need a light or a stop sign there sometime because there have been several severe accidents there. I hear the sirens all the time. But when we were coming out, a person almost pulled out in front of us coming out of that East Brandon. And I think they must have thought it was a three-way stop or something because they honked the horn like crazy. I'm going 55 miles an hour because it's 55 miles an hour there. And we zipped by, and they came out, and when they turned, I looked in my back mirror, they flipped me off, you know, out of their window. I'm like, oh, my gosh, I'm the lad who was just going straight, man in his own business, and they were almost pulled out in front of me. When I go to my driveway, I look to see what's coming around that corner. I will go into the left lane, which is the lane coming in, because people are behind me. I don't want to stop because I'm afraid about being rear-ended. I will go into the other lane that I can see that nobody's there and then go into the shoulder lane and then turn into my driveway. So the traffic issue is going to be an issue. There is. So traffic issue with children and horse issues with children, none of those mix well. I don't know about the septic system they're talking about. Used to be in Fayette County, you had 10 acres to get a septic tank. Then I thought they expanded to 40 acres to get a septic tank. I owned Nicholasville Road Animal Hospital, which you all probably know that's between Kingsgarden, then it was my property, and the Islamic School, which you probably had to give the Islamic school property, you know, to build there. But there was a, in the South Point, at the back of South Point there, is a sewer line. So that school co-pentanted to a sewer. So that's probably why they got approved as far as that school right before you come to Brannon, in, you know, Jesmond County there. But so the septic system, it does kind of bother, make me worry a little bit, because my backyard looks out onto that mobile home, the yellow mobile home they're talking about. It used to be Mrs. Cochran's mobile home, but then that doctor bought the property. He was supposed to build a house but never did, and now he's selling it to them, which is fine. I mean, I have no problem with children. I love children. 17 nieces, 17 great nieces and nephews. Many of them come out every weekend to have dinner at my mother's house, et cetera. But I do know this, septic systems finally fail. They do. And, you know, my mother and I, we're on septic systems, but we use them, you know, several times a day. I can't imagine 100 people a day how much sewage and stuff they're going to be putting in the land there, and it's not a sewer system. It's a septic system. Actually, my Nicholasville Road Animal Hospital, when I first bought it in 2002 over on Nicholasville Road between King's Garden and the Islamic School, my boss didn't tell me he must have been having septic problems I didn't know it I had to have it pumped all the time because it was coming up on the ground right there in Lexington right near King's Garden so I had to get a plumber to attach me uphill to the sewer system behind South Point because I had a septic system that was overflowing all the time and and we did we did that but it's you have to have it pumped up you know it's not on the same level I was lower than the sewer line but they pump it up and that's fine so horses and kids don't go together the traffic is going to be a problem it's even a problem for me in my driveway there which is right next to them right before them that's a problem and then the septic system they said it's approved but like I said I don't understand because you used to have had to had a whole lot of land you got you're going from a you know it's not even really ten acres it's 9.9 or something like that so I'm not sure how they got approved anyway so I don't know the last thing is it's just gonna change my life completely because and my mother's because we live in the property right next door there's gonna be a lot more noise there's gonna be a lot more activities every weekend there's gonna be night stuff I don't know if their parking lots gonna have lights and stuff like that I have no idea but I certainly know that my wife and I don't know that you have to change things because of that bit but it is a farm agriculture area now very peaceful in the morning in the afternoon i hear the cars a little bit but not much my mother's i live in a mobile home in the front of that property pretty far off the land but my mother was smart enough in the late in the in the 70s 72 to 74 to put her house a quarter mile back so we don't hear traffic and stuff like that but when this comes in it's going to be lots of noise and lots of noise pollution lots of activity and stuff like that so that was my four issues it really was is child safety then the traffic traffic safety those are going to be problems septic system no one's really explained that to me but I don't know maybe they can figure it out and tell us what the health department says about that because I would think you'd want a sewer system for a big place like that and then really noise pollution and noise problems and stuff and all that comes with children like that and everything so that's kind of what my situations were but I think some of them are pretty valid and you'll have to make the decision but I will know there'll be someday they'll have a light or a stop sign at East Brannon because it's a problem right now I can tell you all if you all I don't even know if you all deal with that but that's a problem already too so okay thank you so much thank you mr flake one more witness mr uh william t young you've got uh three and a half minutes left on your 30 minute estimate mr miller 35 is it no we'll do it mr young is very aware of our need to be brief yeah He said 30 minutes. I would have said 10. I appreciate you all hearing me. I'm Bill Young. I'm chairman of WT Young LLC, which is the owner of Overbrook. I think all the points have been made. My main concern is safety to horses and safety to children. The only reason I say that is that Overbrook has coexisted over the years with two large subdivisions. That's a very unusual situation for a thoroughbred horse farm. We back up to Heartland. We back up to Squire Oaks. The incident that was described with the child's balloon getting hung up in the halter of the yearling and causing the yearling's death, it's maybe a once-in-a-lifetime situation, but the results were terrible. we back up to a church on some property that we have on the other side of Armstrong Mill Road the church has numerous activities involving a fair this that and the other but years ago we pretty well decided we couldn't put any horses in the pastures that were next to the church's land, the risk was just too great. You've mentioned traffic, and I'll close on this. My wife wanted to see the location of this property, so we drove into Overbrook coming from DeLong Road and tried to go out the entrance onto Tate's Creek Road, which is several hundred feet down the hill from where the entrance to this school will be. This was on a Sunday afternoon. We waited for 15 minutes. Traffic was so heavy coming into town and going out of town on Tate's Creek, we couldn't get out. So we just decided to turn right and come back into town. That's just an example that we ran into. Again, I have nothing against the school. I think it would be an incredible asset to the community. and I certainly don't bear any ill will to you all. My concern is really just one of safety. That's it. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. Young. Just a couple of closing remarks, and we'll finish within 30 minutes, I think. I checked the Internet just to see whether there was actually a need for a school of this type. it identified 160 daycare schools for three or seven year olds in this vicinity. There's been no argument that this school is needed. And to the extent children need outdoor activities, learn to be involved in farming or planting crops, flowers. There are summer schools and summer camps where they can do that. This is the wrong place to bring all of these cars, all of this traffic, create a danger to the horses, those who care for the horses, and for the children. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Miller. Mr. Woodall. Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. Does the board have any questions for Mr. Miller or his witnesses before we allow Mr. Woodall to rebut? I see no hands. Mr. Miller, thank you. Yes, sir. Briefly, I promise. Thank you. Chairman. Thank you all once again. Just briefly, we certainly acknowledge that, you know, the character and reputation of Overbrook over the years and nobody wants to disparage that. And I would just note that there's a lot of, I happen to have three boys of my own, and there's a lot of comments about what these kids are going to do around the fences and how they're going to get in the fields and all that other stuff. Well, there's already a school backed up to a prestigious horse farm. It's been there a long, long, long time, and that's Walnut Hill Day School. That church was chartered in 1901. I don't remember how long the Todds have owned that school, but it's been there a long time, and there's not been a single incident. that I'm aware of. And the same will be the case here. With regard to the septic system, as their engineering folks pointed out, this property is on a hill. So the septic, the way those systems work, I'm sure you know, is everything runs downhill. And so will this one. Won't run towards Mr. Schlick's house. Won't run towards Overbook Farm. It's been approved based upon the number of proposed students and employees on that five-day week. So the health department's made that clear in their report. As far as the traffic, folks, we have to deal with objectivity when we start counting traffic. as Mr. Gross pointed out when he said, you know, this doesn't, didn't trip his switch either until he said it went out there and looked around, but certainly saw the same thing staff did. We're talking about 100 trips a day here. Very, very insignificant number of trips created by this new use. So that's why it didn't raise concerns for staff, I'm sure. And it shouldn't for you as well. um i think safety is is been the predominant thing we've heard about today whether that be from traffic the the traffic counts at this location as reported by the transportation cabinets in our exhibitor it's about 5 300 a day and we're talking about 100 new trips from this from this use which is a fantastic use and as far as trespassing onto this property through two rows of fence, you know, this is, to be clear, this particular paddock, this area, I think they said in the objection, it was, I don't remember, a couple hundred acres or what it was, this is leased to somebody else who's stabling horses there. Because as I understand it, you know, Overbrook had a mass dispersal in 2009 and sold all their bloodstock. so they're leasing their stabling operation is what this is and this is a fantastic use for this property against or you know proposed by two folks that are proven winners in this they've already done this once and they want to bring this to lexington and i can tell you as a father of three boys and one of them just just now uh entering into middle school there darn sure is a use a need for this there absolutely is you can't make enough of it in my opinion if they had if there would if i would have had the opportunity to put my boys through this program they had a good preschool education and experience but this is phenomenal and I'd ask you to support it today with your vote thank you thank you mr. Woodall I do have a question for staff was there did traffic the traffic engineering was a part of the review of this application I presume because one of the conditions has to do with the traffic engineering's approval of the parking did traffic engineering look at traffic uh ingress and egress from tates creek traffic engineering was part of the conversation in our staff review steve parker is here if you have specific questions for him they did not express any concerns with the number of students being proposed for the school location okay thank you Any other questions from the board to any of the witnesses that we've heard? Any questions from the board to staff? Just a quick question for the applicant. Do we know or have plans for a certain signage that would be out there that could actually help in this category? Just as our Richmond location, we won't include any roadside signage. We like to maintain the integrity of the nature out there. Unless required. Unless required. I was just thinking that may help with the people slowing up. Oh, safety signage. I'm sorry, I thought you meant signs and to advertise like the haunted house. I just think like the entrances are not marked. Sure. Yes, yes. We include safety signage at our schools in Richmond. And 23 years in the Army, we risk mitigate. And so I look at every operation that I'm a part of through that lens. This is no different. This is actually more intense because it's dealing with other people's children. So we look at every worst-case scenario, and we mitigate those risks, and signage would certainly be a part of that that we would incorporate in order to keep everybody safe. My question is, and it's not necessarily to you, maybe to traffic, and I see Steve Parker in the back. Steve, if a school takes up residence in a location like this, what is the requirements through traffic engineering to put in any signage relating to this? it would be evaluated at the time of construction there's no plans right now to put up signage however for instance i'll use brenda cowan as an example when that school was built there was no signage however because of traffic backups overhead flashers were put in by the transportation cabinet and so that goes through transportation and cabins this is a state road or city tates creek is a state road state road we heard some testimony about uh about the traffic conditions at brandon at the i guess east brandon road wherever that is that dumps into tates creek that is an issue out there do you all have any control over that or is that uh again part of the state road too because tate creek is a tape is a state road that would be uh handled by them okay so any caution flag or in any you know blinking light or any anything to do with the road would be through the state credit okay traffic calming devices like speed bumps and such those are not allowed on road classified as like taste Creek yeah I got the arterials and collectors do not allow for speed humps like that they would allow for a yellow flashing light or something like that showing perhaps Yes. I'm not aware of one. So just past this entrance between the Brandon Crossing and this entrance on out is the intersection of DeLong Road. There's no turn lanes into DeLong Road. There's no flashers at DeLong Road. And that's a fairly steep intersection right there. Correct. So very similar to the circumstances that were described at this condition. there however would be tremendous tremendously less traffic at this location than what we see at DeLong Road and brand okay so in your opinion that this this doesn't add a lot of traffic to this intersection it would not add a lot of traffic you know depending on agricultural uses you know you could see a tremendous amount of traffic generated kind of the same numbers if a operation of tobacco farming or something like that where it generated a lot of workers seasonal coming in it wouldn't be during the nine month duration of school however you could see more traffic than what this school would generate at a specific time based on the agricultural use so this use did not raise to the level of concern for for for denying this application thank you thank you we don't have a provision for sir rebuttal mr miller uh i mean this is uh i i understand i think what what the position of overbrook farm is uh and we understand what the position of the applicant is so we don't we don't find it necessary to do that anybody on the board have any questions of any of the witnesses that we've heard to date or or general questions to the attorneys for either the applicant or the opposition hearing none I'll entertain a motion I move for approval of PLN BOA 21-39, the Arcadia Company LLC's request for conditional use to establish a school for academic instruction in an accessory nursery school in an agricultural rural zone on property located at 5768 Tates Creek Road. That's based on the staff's recommendations and subject to the four listed conditions. Thank you Ms. Carter, is there a second? I'll second. Thank you, Mr. Needham. Motion made and seconded. Let's see if our electronic devices can. Motion carries. The project is approved. Thanks, everybody. I have to recuse myself. I'll approve the next one. Okay, I understand that. I knew you would. gotcha okay one two three four all right before it was dear yeah okay yeah it might be what you might be able to do is sit in the office across yeah that's fine our last case is uh pln boa 21-58 lfuc housing authority mr needham is leaving and uh uh ms whitman is has recused that leaves us with four just barely a quorum so it's a good thing it's a good thing thank you all it's a good thing it's a good thing you came back Okay. Mr. Turner, what say you? Mr. Chairman, we have engaged with staff and reviewed staff's report and are in complete agreement in accord with the report, the recommendations, and the conditions imposed. So we'll be glad to answer questions if need be. but uh um we're in agreement with the staff fair enough uh miss mallory had some questions uh miss mallory let's let's hear from you see if the questions that that you had were answered if you have any other concerns I'm Billy Mallory of the East End Community Development Corporation and we came today to express some concerns, to have some questions answered. We are definitely not in opposition of this development and with full transparency I must say that I am also a, I benefit from living with the Lexington Housing Authority. So I do ride the fence. And I think our number one concern was public safety and personal security. This neighborhood has some very serious criminal activity that comes right up to where this development is. If you go to look at this plot today, it's a lovely pastoral setting, very peaceful, but I can assure you it does not stay like that. And there have been fatal shootings on every street in the East End, including Shropshire that this will front, and including all along 5th Street where the Child Care Development Center is. So we wanted to make sure that there was going to be built in security, not only for the housing development, but also for the child development center. William Wells Brown has had to lock down any number of times. They've not had a school shooting, thank goodness, but there have been shootings all around where they've had to lock down or they've had to delay dismissal because what goes on in the neighborhood It affects everybody. The other thing that we had concern about was the traffic flow. Because in the mornings when many parents would be dropping off at the childcare center, they'd also be dropping off at William Wells Brown. William Wells Brown is a school that has only two buses. And that is because it is largely parents transport their children and Many children walk, many children walk down Fifth Street and will be passing this location. So there has to be some built in traffic control to make sure that children who are walking to school are kept safe when other parents are dropping off and driving. Another concern was we looked at the reports, we couldn't tell from the reports if these homes were going to be for home ownership or if they were gonna be for rental. And that question has been answered that actually 10 of the houses are for home ownership. There's another development that will follow that our townhouses that I believe will be for rental. And then of course we were concerned about our trees. The first district has the lowest tree canopy in all of Lexington. And this site has some has some trees that are probably over 100 years old. And we understand that housing, you know, there has to be a balance and particularly the trees that are along the back of the lot would serve as a natural buffer and so we hope that as many of those trees that can be saved at the back of that lot will be saved and so we got all of our questions answered but I can tell you that now another concern is that I made numerous contacts with planning. I talked with Brandon Gross, the attorney, I sent in questions, I sent a letter, and I actually spent 45 minutes with Stephanie Cunningham. They did not get the list of questions. I don't know if they got my letter, but I wonder how can we have public engagement if there's this breakdown in communication because I've been communicating since September 30th And it really raises concerns for me that the public is communicating, voicing concerns, whether it's support or opposition, where is that information getting lost? And I would hope that that will be looked into. And, yes, I did resend my questions in my letter this morning because I never got confirmation that they were received. And obviously, they didn't get to the developers. And I think that's a real legitimate concern. But no, we definitely support this. We need affordable housing. We know the reputation of community action. They do a wonderful job of child development education, and we need that. We would just prefer that when developers come into a neighborhood, that they really do make every attempt to engage with the community. We have tremendous community partners that would be supportive of this. But we need to know what's coming to our neighborhood and how we can be a part of that. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Mallory. Was there another speaker on this matter? I know that Mr. Hodge sent a letter with questions. I don't know whether that was the letter that was being referred to or not. Let me ask staff that question. In our package of information, there was a letter from Hodge Properties. I didn't see any letter from Ms. Mallory in the handouts that were issued. We did not have Ms. Mallory's letter before today. There is a development plan being reviewed by the Planning Commission for this project as well, so it could be that her letter was directed to the staff who handles that. I'm not sure, but we did not receive her questions until this morning, and we did not have time to get that in Granicus for you all. Gotcha. Okay. Fair enough. And I noticed another letter from the William Wells Brown Neighborhood Association. We saw that one, too. That's the only two that I was aware of. Thank you. Yeah, give us just a minute here. I'll make sure we know what we're looking at. We've already got that, I think. The DP is a folder with three sheets inside it. There are copies for each. And Mr. Glover, Chairman Glover. Yeah, Ms. Clark has not been sworn in. Okay. We're ready for you. Tell us who you are and why you're here. May I take the salt? Please take your mask off when you're speaking. It's easier for us to agree. I feel better already. Mr. Glover, Ms. Clark has not been sworn in. I'm sorry? She's not been sworn in. Oh, you've not been sworn in? Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Thank you. And I can say that Ms. Mallory, I gave her three minutes, she took five, so you can have between three and five minutes for your comments as well. Thank you. Okay. I support the project very much. It's long overdue. Identify yourself for the record, please. Thank you. We know you. I'm Amy Clark, and I live at 628 Castle Road. I support the project very much. I think it's a wonderful thing. It's long overdue, I think partly because the site has challenges. And a daycare center is something much needed. So what I would request is that you postpone, or at this point it would be a, what do you call it? Continuance. Continuance. Until certain information is known that really affects any decision about variances. And the contention on the variances is that they would not adversely, well, and on the conditional use as well, the daycare, it will not adversely affect the surrounding area. And in particular, it's not out of character. And the variances, I think, are accommodating a design that is very much out of character with the surrounding area. If we could have the next slide. Actually, I will need to know how to use the pointer. Oh, you will? Okay, then forget about the pointer then. Okay. Oh, the pointer works? How does it work? The red button. Thank you. Okay. So I need to do this. Huh? I am. Okay, I don't want to. Blind anyone? There we go. Thank you. I appreciate it. Okay. There are a good many trees here, really good trees, old trees, and Ms. Mallory spoke of them already. There's a grove of black locust. There are a number of red oaks, and they go farther over. And there are a couple of pin oaks, and there's a poplar, and they're all old, and they're all big, pretty much. They're mostly quite substantial trees. This is not a development plan review. But what you are being asked to do is grant variances that accommodate this road, Street A, being cut along the back lot line between Pemberton Street and Shropshire. And this is a road, if we go to the next slide, I believe, that is 39 feet across the full right-of-way. The paved width of it, curb to curb, is 24 feet. It's a good two lanes. One is for the one-way traffic to circulate the daycare drop-off, and the other is for parking. It's mentioned in a waiver request to allow this road, which is actually substandard for the sort of street it is, it doesn't have sidewalks, it's mentioned that there's really a lane for parking and a lane for circulating the daycare traffic. So I would contend that the variances requested are seeking relief from hardships of the applicant's own making in that they're cutting this enormously wide road through, and no wonder they want front yard variance of 10 feet, rear yard variance of 15 feet. That adds up to 25 feet. And the question is whether we could get public facilities adequate to the daycare use without cutting through the backyards. There was also a claim in the applicant's letter that this is quite usual around here to have these rear alleys and even garages, access to garages. It's not very common at all in the near neighborhood. The alleys tend to be where there are alleys, 12 to 15 feet wide. They're not 24 feet of roadway, 39 feet of right-of-way altogether. They're nothing like that wide. And there really is not a lot of rear parking with garages in the back. And I question whether it's even settled, whether it's garages that are wanted and access to rear yards or whether it's in fact the parallel parking along the rear or both together. You will notice on the other side here that in the daycare area as well, the zoning ordinance requires nine spaces minimum to serve the daycare. And the plan is providing threefold that many spaces. So that's another area where there's a big piece of land appropriated. So what happens is, if we could go on to the next slide, you have this whole area in the middle which has wonderful old trees. There are trees along the rear. There are some trees here. There's one that's smack in the middle of the proposed roadway. One tree is something that we lose, especially it's an affordable development. We need to make some provision for the needs. But what you're seeing is along the front, 18 parallel parking spaces in the public right-of-way. That's not counting a few by the daycare. A ample provision for a row of parallel parking spots along the back. And all these cars, 27 in here, over and above, that's to say, nine required, 27 provided. All these cars are claiming the sort of land that trees could have. And then they're coming to the Board of Adjustment and saying, under the constraints of the zoning ordinance, we don't have room for the yards that are required. Could you cut us some slack? And I would argue that it's not warranted that this is a situation of the applicant's own design and making, and that they would be better served by running the daycare traffic along Shropshire, which is wider, which has a slowing median. they would be better served by requesting if any variances a reduction in the required front yard to accommodate parking in the now no longer required front yard that's to say this is you may have seen variances like this along Maryland Avenue in that area often people will say I just need a car in my front yard because there's nowhere else to put it and the street is claimed by restaurants or whatever. And what happens is the board of adjustment will then vary the required size of the front yard to accommodate a car. And it's not violating the infill and redevelopment rule that you can't have front yard parking because it's not in the required front yard. It's in this other piece of land. So all in all, I would simply request that you continue this matter until the Planning Commission, and it's scheduled for this very Thursday, has had an opportunity to review the road. There is a waiver request associated with the road. It has not been approved by the Planning Commission. It has not even fully been reviewed by staff to make a request to planning recommendation. So that road, we could better understand whether that road is an approved enhancement of the public facilities or, in fact, something that is problematic and claims more land and is out of character with the area. That takes place on Thursday, so I would request that you continue this till that is known. The other thing they don't have is the tree preservation plan. We don't know what's going to happen to those trees. They told me out in the hall that they would try to preserve as many as they could. Right there on the, if you go back to the other slide, the site statistics, it says trees existing, X. Trees to be removed, X. There's no promise to keep any. And I thank you. Thank you, Ms. Clark. Mr. Attorney, what is your plan for the trees that are along the proposed public street? That's a one-way street, I understand. It is, and that is currently an issue before the Planning Commission as a part of the development plan approval. And there's a much discussion. But the crux of the matter is the Housing Authority is over in the development of the rest of the Equestrian View, which is the Bluegrass-Aspindale area that was redeveloped in 2008, did remove a number of trees but was able to save a great number of trees and did so as a prime motivation. i think austin sims said it best in one of our meetings that if you're asking about affordable housing versus having to remove some trees i'm going to follow i'm going to follow the side of affordable housing every time they will be uh planting and and and so forth and an opportunity to you know beautify the area and provide additional canopy but that issue is before the planning commission right now okay so that that's the short answer i think everything that was uh mentioned uh in the last witnesses uh is basically a development plan issue that is uh to be decided on thursday and it's not unusual for these two things to up to proceed on parallel tracks obviously if development plan is approved none of this none of this matters it you know it should be noted that there is an approved final development plan for this track going back to 2008 that that reflects apartments being built by the housing authority so this this proposed development is really in a response to try to be compatible with the area, tuned to the traffic. Shropshire Avenue is a thoroughfare now, so there's quite a bit of traffic on that. The Street A there, we not call it an alley, because there is no such thing as an alley other sub regs anymore but it provides access for vehicular access for garages in the rear no vehicular access from Shropshire it provides a drop area drop off safe drop-off area for the daycare center and so forth so from a design point of view is obviously gone through a number of design professionals and the housing authorities review process to come up with a very nice affordable housing development compatible with the existing neighborhood and sometimes that rear access is very important it eliminates all the the waste pickup will be from that street it wasn't somewhere else in this package I saw which way the street was running but I can't find it in my it it was originally proposed as a two-way street and as part of the planning planning Commission process with discussions with the staff we have it's recommended and we've agreed a a one-way street running from fifth to sixth from fifth to sixth right okay and just for clarity um most of the issues that are still open issues if those things are addressed in planning commission those aren't before us right now correct and mr sims is executive director of the housing authority is present along with James Cole from the Community Action League who will be operating the daycare center. And the daycare center is for pre-kindergarten kids. So it will be compatible with many of the parent drop-offs, you know, William Wells Brown. The older kids may be there and the younger kids right here. So that's part of the design effect. So Mr. Turner, what impact will our decision today, if we approve this, what impact would that be on the Planning Commission? I think very little. I mean, they, you know, obviously one of their conditions is going to be your approval of the variances reflected on the plan. So it's already kind of baked into the cake to some degree. And how will they deal with the tree situation then? Please. How will they deal with the trees then? There's got to be some. Well, that's in flux right now, to be perfectly honest with you. You know, and I'm not going to stand here and say that all the trees are going to be saved. That's not going to be the case. There's going to be a substantial number of trees removed. but every effort is going to be made and each tree is going to be evaluated every effort is going to be made to save the important trees that are in there like like all old tree lines there's a lot of I don't want to hate to use this but trash trees or whatever that you know that that are not too important but there are also some other trees that can be important and to the extent any of those can be saved they will be but again trees affordable housing and who who who will be making that decision on the trees well probably the housing authority or whatever the planning commission may require but that's you know typically what the through the development and I will say the development plan proved in 2008 reflects a parking lot in the same area were showing the street so you know it's right the housing authority has committed to making an old the old projects if you will into a very nice attractable attractive affordable housing development that doesn't reflect stigma that some of the older projects did and obviously trees shrubbery and those kind of effects that all of us are accustomed to or an integral part of that so trees will be replanted and you know we'll we'll move on would it be fair to say would be fair to say that by reducing the the yard the yards in these cases that we're actually eliminating some trees by doing that well you may be you may be but there are other as we as we articulated before the Planning Commission and the development plan process are all there are a lot of other factors involved in coming up with that design and instead of having you know everything front on Shropshire having a difficulty difficult issues with the daycare drop off and pick up and so forth there there are a lot of factors in that and not just trees and nothing else you know yeah certainly again there's a strong record of the housing authority to protecting and saving every possible tree that yeah I certainly understand that and I do understand the difficulties of putting all this together but it's an infill site and a very small infill we're trying to maximize affordable housing units that can be done in an appropriate manner so i certainly understand that and i approve of that i think that's most important i i hate to sacrifice one thing for another and i understand mr turner that there are no sidewalks planned either on the street a or on shropshire i think there will be on shropshire on shropshire okay i recommend it if if you have an opportunity no they will be on shropshire but street street a is frankly it'll function and their number of hasn't already has done this sort of thing with the eltree elm tree lane development and frankly the street itself functions as a pedestrian because of the extremely low volume of traffic that is on it it tends to function as a as a as a pedestrian way as well so it'll func it'll be a functional alley even though there's no no such designation exactly any other questions for mr turner or the applicant no i just wanted to comment similar to what mr clark said i appreciate the the desire to beautify But I do also appreciate how this is in alignment with what we've said our priorities was as a city, as the education opportunity, economic opportunity, all the mayor's task force that have come out, and the need for affordable housing is just, we're well aware of that. So I appreciate it, but yeah, this is well needed. There's a but there. I know. thank you very much any other further questions uh of anybody if not i'll entertain a motion mr chair um i did want to bring up one item that i talked to mr turner about previously i believe that the applicant has indicated that they may be interested in in upping the number of children from what was initially proposed and staff has sort of taken that into account in our original conditions with condition number four that maximum enrollment be based on the capacity allowed by the cabinet for health and family services so long as parking and outdoor play area requirements are met the applicant has indicated that there could be some changes to that proposed parking lot based on the increase in children so we wanted to be sure that that was well covered in our condition so we do have a an amended condition number one that we'll put up here real quick just to sort of give the the Planning Commission room to approve some minor changes to that parking lot should the capacity of children require it for the daycare center and I'm sorry autumn I meant to mention that and I appreciate you bringing it up and we are in agreement with your So this is condition number one. Condition number one, as it is in your staff report, is our pretty typical condition that the property be developed and operated in accordance with the submitted application materials and site plan. this just elaborates on that to allow amendments by an approved development plan to allow modifications for the child care facility's parking lot and fenced play area and approved uh an amended approved an amended final development approved by who final development plans are approved by the planning commission okay okay so that leaves it sort of open-ended so the planning commission can make some changes to the development uh uh plan the site plan and such correct with regard to the parking and fence play area for the child care facility all right does everybody on the board understand what what we're doing we're substituting the language on the screen for the language in your materials. Can everybody read that? Can you read that, Perry? With that amendment, I'll entertain a motion. I move for approval of PLN BOA 21-58, LFUC housing authorities request for one, a conditional use to establish a childcare center. Two, a variance to reduce the required front yard from 20 feet to 10 feet along Shropshire Avenue. Three, a variance to reduce the through-lot front yard from 20 feet to 5 feet along a new proposed Street A. Four, a variance to reduce the required side street side yard from 20 feet to 10 feet along East 5th Street. And five, a variance to reduce the required side street side yard from 20 feet to 10 feet along East 6th Street in order to develop 11 proposed lots with the defined infill and redevelopment area in a planned neighborhood residential zone on property located at 551 Shropshire Avenue, based on the staff's recommendations, and subject to the six listing conditions, including the modified condition number one to amend for approval of final development plan to allow for modifications to the facility parking lot and fence play area. Thank you, Ms. Carter. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Walker. Motion has been made and seconded. Please vote electronically as soon as it comes up. Four votes in favor. The motion carries. Your project is approved. Good luck. Very good. Thank you all very much. Okay. Thank you. okay back on the schedule the uh are there any uh items that any board member wishes to bring to the attention to be heard at this time i hear none okay good i didn't want to let her get away um at this time i'm sorry we don't have the entire board with us but we're going to have the division of planning staff present an overview of the 2018 comprehensive plan and joan is going to rejoin us uh do you want to do you want to take a brief recess two minutes how about it sorry about that let's take a five-minute recess and we'll reconvene in five minutes just to give us a chance to get everything sorted thank you Thank you Chairman Glover. Our next item is a presentation by the staff of the Division of Planning and specifically myself I'll be at the end Tracy Wade and then my colleague Chris Woodall who is the manager of long-range planning for the division of planning he's going to open this up today and give you the Board of Adjustment more information about our comprehensive plan more currently under the 2018 comprehensive plan and then a portion of that plan which you may have heard autumn referred to called the place builder and how those work together for both the board and the planning commission in terms of reviewing planning actions so i'm going to turn it over to chris first and then you'll see me up here in a few minutes okay thank you tracy thank you mr chair members of the board. Thank you for having me here today. I'm here to talk to you all as Tracy mentioned about the comprehensive plan and our comprehensive plan is called Imagine Lexington and specifically we'll talk to you a little bit about the place builder which is a new element of our comprehensive plan. I say new it was it was adopted in in February of 2019 but it's still a relatively new concept for us and we'll kind of talk you through how the comprehensive plan came to be what the place builder is and exactly what the place builder was intended to do. So I'm going to cover some stuff that you all probably are familiar with being in the planning realm and making important land use decisions. Let me ask you before you start, Chris. Yes, sir. How long is your presentation? Just so we can. I think we'll take you about 15, 20 minutes. 15 minutes, okay. Yeah, I won't give you the full course. This was an hour long course that we offered to the general public and to developers, so We'll try to keep it relatively quick for you. So I know I hit you with a high level question about why we plan, but you all know, you're aware of it. You see development applications that likes it into growing and vibrant city. Our latest comprehensive plan said that we were gonna see about 80,000 people in the next 20 years. So we're trying to figure out how do we plan for them. The comprehensive plan sets up a vision for where we wanna go as a community, but also more importantly, it sets up a strategy for the implementation about how we're going to get there. The plan is only as good as your implementation strategy. So in addition to just sort of being good practice, our first comprehensive plan here in Lexington was adopted in 1931, which was about six short years after the first adopted comprehensive plan in the country, which was in Cincinnati. So we've got a rich history of planning here in Lexington. But in addition to it being just a good idea, it's also required by statute. So any jurisdiction that wants to exercise land use controls has to have a comprehensive plan. And there are some things that are required by statute, such as a land use element, a transportation element, or community facilities. So there are some things that are required to be in there. But Lexington has always kind of gone above and beyond that as well. There's also a lot of research and analysis that goes into it. And certainly a lot of public input, which I will hit on here as well. So a brief history lesson here. This is something I know you all are familiar with, our urban service boundary. Talking about the progressive policies of Lexington's history. The first urban service boundary in the country was established here in Lexington in 1958. And since then, you can kind of see it's taken different shapes and sizes. but it's always been a tool that we've used to manage our growth to make sure that we don't outstrip our ability to pay for the growth that is coming. It also has a wonderful byproduct of maintaining our signature industry, our horse farms, but it really was established to make sure that we've got a fiscally responsible growth pattern. It does provide some interesting constraints, though, as we're making our land use decisions. So in 2013, you all may be familiar with what we had before, which was a future land use map. Basically what that did is it created a future designation for every parcel within Lexington for what the future zoning would be, what the future land use should be. In 2013, and I should say just about every community across the country has used a future land use map to guide their growth. In 2013, though, we made a shift in a different direction, and we moved from a future land use map to a policy-based plan. And the idea here was to allow the developers a little bit more flexibility, but certainly matching more than just a color on a map. The fullness of the comprehensive plan is more than just a one-page map that says what type of development we want to see. There are an awful lot of policies that go into that plan, so we wanted to make it a policy-based plan. So that's what led us to Imagine Lexington, our 2018 plan, and the directive that we got from the Planning Commission, well, from our staff, the developers, and the public was that they wanted a little more certainty about what it means to be in agreement with the comprehensive plan. So that's what we set out to do. Our mission statement in the 2013 comprehensive plan said it was seeking to provide flexible planning guidance. And we thought that was a good thing. We needed that flexibility. But what we also heard from everybody was that we needed to focus it as well. So we made one very important change that says flexible yet focused planning guidance. And that's what leads us to the place builder. So the comprehensive plan is made up of two different phases here. you've got the goals and objectives which are approved by the Planning Commission recommended by the Planning Commission ultimately approved by the council so our council is setting forth our vision for how we want to grow and develop and then the second is the sole purview of the Planning Commission and that sets out our strategy for how we're going to achieve those goals and objectives so we've got broad goals and objectives we've got policies within that plan and then we've got criteria that are a little bit more specific and we'll get to that here in just a second. But our comprehensive plan, we used to sort of measure our public engagement by the hundreds of people who would participate. But in the 2018 plan, we had an initiative called On the Table that included over 11,000 people that helped shape the direction of where we want to go. And where we ended up were a bunch of policies. Again, this is a policy-based plan. So we've got two different types of policies here. We've got our type one policies that are really geared towards us, right? That's where our policy may tell us to study a corridor, for example, or a small area plan, or change the zoning text. But then our type two policies are really policies that are aimed at the development community. As they bring in development proposals, it's a chance for us to sort of measure their development proposal against what the comprehensive plan is saying. So what is the place builder? The place builder takes all of those policies that are geared towards the applicants and tries to put them all in one place. It basically is a synopsis or a synthesis of the policies and the comprehensive plan that should apply to a development that's coming in. And Tracy will talk you through kind of how you get to making those decisions. But again, we start with our goals and objectives, which are the breadth of the plan, move through to the themes of the plan, the policies, and ultimately those development criteria that are aimed at the developers are all sort of put into this document we call the place builder and ultimately turn into a two page sheet that an applicant looks at to determine, okay, these are things that we need to look at as we're developing our plan. Another really important piece of the place builder is that there was a strong recommendation that the applicants engage with the neighborhoods and the communities and the people around them early and often. We're trying to reduce some of the conflict and the friction that happens through these development processes. We know, as you all know, that's not an easy task and it's not a perfect task, but we think communication is one way that we can help to make that process run a little bit smoother. So we put a very strong recommendation in there for public engagement. We present that to the Planning Commission and let them know what the public engagement has been, and the planning commission has really been taking that into consideration when making their decisions so that's like i said a very quick brief overview of the comprehensive plan and how we got to the place builder but tracy's going to kind of walk you through what the place builder actually is and how it works and how it fits into our zone change process thank you all for having me thanks chris so i know you're all aware that every piece of property in our county has a zone assigned to it and that is mapped so we still have a zoning map to available to us but we just don't have the future land use map anymore but that zone is important to developers property owners because that tells them what they can do with their property what kind of project is is possible but it also lays out if they're if a property owner is in a zone where they're not able to do something, you know, what's that next step? Well, in some cases, they come to the board for conditional use, and in other cases, there's a need for a zone change request, and zone changes go through the planning commission and then ultimately the council. So this place builder structure that we've, the staff and then the planning commission adopted is strictly in place for zone changes. But obviously, as I said, you know, the zone is important. So once the planning commission and the council have reviewed a property using place builder, the expectation is those design criteria and development criteria that are in place will continue with that parcel through its life. So that comes important. So as an applicant approaches a piece of property and they come to the decision that they do need a zone change for their parcel, we show them the place builder process and it involves first engaging with the public as Chris mentioned and I and you heard Miss Mallory say today you know nobody came to talk to us first and she has now started to get into that mindset of we want as a neighborhood for the developer to come and talk to us first before they make an application so that's where that's coming from it's an encouraging aspect of the comprehensive plan to our developers development community and to the neighborhood so first engagement the second thing that an applicant is looking at is what place type am i located within so our community has been divided into seven place types and we'll get to that in a second the third step it gets more granular as you go down is a development type so what type of development is proposed for my site or what do i want and then they come to a conclusion about what zone works to implement those aspects of the comprehensive plan and then an applicant files their application it comes through the division of planning for review and a recommendation so the place types that are set out by the comprehensive plan are overarching ideas so downtown is a place type that in most people's mind has a particular location associated with it right you don't have a downtown place type on the edge it's the center core of your community so there's a description about what is what is downtown where is it if possible and then what kind of development we would expect there so that's where the development types come So each place type has a type of development that's expected or recommended, and then possible zones that are recommended to implement those different types of development. So our seven place types are downtown, second-tier urban, which is near downtown neighborhoods, regional center, which is like our commercial centers like Fayette Mall or Hamburg, where you expect a lot of commercial activity, a corridor so anything that's along our major arterial corridors whether it's commercial or residential a new complete neighborhood which you might expect more on the edge of our community on a greenfield development and then enhanced neighborhoods so if an existing neighborhood comes in and we want to add something new or add density within an established neighborhood and then the last place type is industry and production center and that's associated more with our industrial or cold stream where it is primarily production of something so those are the seven types and they all have zones that are recommended by the comprehensive plan so an applicant goes through that process of saying here's where I am here's what I want now what zone fits me in terms of making an application so that our little example here that we presented to applicants enhanced neighborhood and that's probably more what the the board sees too people are coming in with an existing development where they're adding something or changing something on an already developed parcel so you're enhancing the neighborhood somehow and then the comprehensive plan gives illustrative examples like on the right of what is expected within an enhanced neighborhood what kind of changes are encouraged and the type of development that's expected in zones for each of these place types and then development types Chris mentioned there's a two-page summary of what development criteria is is expected to be reviewed or met for that particular development. And so, again, we tried to distill from our 300-page comprehensive plan of all these ideals for our community, how can those ideals on a grand perspective be applied to one particular piece of property? And that's what was missing from our 2013 comprehensive plan. we had all the goals and the policies, but we didn't have the direction, the directive to our developers of these are the ones that you need to look at and apply. And some of them don't apply. There are development criteria that may not apply to your site just based on where it's situated or what you're doing. And that's okay. but it's the applicant's responsibility to review these two pages and provide information then to the planning commission and ultimately the council to say here's how i am meeting the comprehensive plan and one of those is improve improved street tree along our streets so add protect existing trees so those things are being evaluated but we have to remember this is only for a zone change So the same development criteria that we're looking at are not necessarily being applied to Board of Adjustment cases or to all development plans because they're already in the process. They already have their zone in place. Some of the things are required by our ordinances, but some are still in the policy stage. One more. That might have been a slide that didn't work. So again, the place builder fits into our current zone change process. And this is the, it was the previous process before 2019 with a pre-application conference. They make, applicant makes their application through our office, staff reviews and comments. It goes to, the planning commission has some subcommittees. One of them is called a zoning committee. So that is reviewed as well as their associated development. have a hearing and then it goes to the urban county council for review but now again we're recommending a neighborhood meeting prior to if possible prior to the pre-application conference but definitely before they make their application so that they hear feedback from our neighborhoods you know you're improving the neighborhood a developer believes and they they should be engaging with their neighbors to identify hopefully issues or ideas up front. And then there's new guidance for the zone change justification that we provide. And they work through that with our staff. And then each applicant is now required to submit their justification that compares the place builder to what they're doing. So there's a bit more of a connection between the comp plan and the application. And this talks about justification in terms of an applicant writing a justification for the staff review and the planning commission's review. Again, they're expected to talk about their public engagement and specifically address the development criteria that is adopted as part of the comprehensive plan. and they highlight for us when they submit their applications if they do agree with something which is in green yellow hey we wrote about it or we're yeah it's not on our development plan but we're writing about what we're doing or the orange which means just doesn't apply to our site so after an application the staff reviews the zone change and especially the place builder criteria and we don't just look at it in terms of a zone change we also say are they actually showing those concepts on their development plan are they showing sidewalks are they showing tree preservation on their their plan so that there's not a disconnect between the two and then the staff makes a recommendation to the Planning Commission based on that information that's my last slide but something that I think prompted Chairman Glover to ask us to present about the comprehensive plan was maybe one of autumn's presentations where she mentioned a policy of the comprehensive plan about ensuring pedestrian oriented businesses and that they be oriented to the main corridor I think it was the custard place where we put the drive-through behind and there was a question at that time well these are are these policies that you know planning is just recommending or how is it that you know the staff is saying the comprehensive plan says this when we don't really know the breadth of the comprehensive plan so I thought it was a great idea that we come and talk a little bit more about what the comprehensive plan does and and these these place builder criteria and that maybe explains a little bit more where the staff is developing some of our recommendations for you all. I'm happy to answer any questions and Chris of course can as well. Two quick questions. One of course could we have a copy of the presentation? Yes. Could you send it out to us? Yes. And secondly, how does all that combine with, I'm familiar with some of the small area development plans, where it seems like we talked even today about that East End small area development plan where the neighborhoods and communities have really drilled in on those items. How does that fall into the bigger picture that we're discussing here? The comprehensive plan historically has recommended a small area plan or two or three occur within each five-year cycle. This past five-year cycle, instead of a small area plan, the comprehensive plan recommended updating our zoning ordinance and subdivision regulations. So there aren't any new small area plans from this past three years. I shouldn't say that today there's a there's a corridor plan for Nicholasville Road and another one coming for a new new circle but the small area plans really are more detailed than our comprehensive plan because they are focused on a particular neighborhood or area and they act as supplemental information for the Planning Commission when they're reviewing a case and they should actually provide you all some guidance as well because it highlights what those the specific goals for that neighborhood or that particular area of the community is. Did you have another question? Oh, can you get a copy of that? I'd like to ask this, if I may. Let's say a developer has an idea and would like to proceed to, well, to pursue it. Do you think these are going to make it easier for the developer to follow, or is it going to make it harder for them, do you think? Well, moving from a land use map oriented comprehensive plan to a policy map, our policy plan made the implementation or the request by developers much easier. They were able to provide a list of goals and objectives they were meeting and explain how, and there wasn't any more detail than that. So now that we've added the place builder, I do think it is a bit more difficult for the applicants, but I don't think it's anything that curtails our development process. That's true, Chris. Yeah. That's kind of what I thought, and that's not a criticism. It's just simply a fact of life, I suspect, in the policy. But I like the idea of presenting the neighborhood and getting the neighborhoods more involvement because it's kind of backwards now. Tracy and Chris, thank you so much for this. We are not privy to all the details of a comprehensive plan, It comes up occasionally, and we're sort of in the dark. So it's helpful for you all to come and remind us occasionally about the comprehensive plan, what its purpose is and how often it's updated and what some of the elements are in it and all. I mean, the same as the zoning ordinance. We see snippets of it on every application, but we don't have a good comprehensive overview of the whole thing. So it's helpful for you all to give us these these updates occasionally. And I'd like I'd kind of like the same thing on the zoning ordinance. Yes, I understood that. I was watching last month, but I was not in the office. So our senior planner, Hal Bailey, that does he's the equivalent of Autumn, but he deals with zone changes. So we'll ask him to come and do a presentation for the board about what kind of the outline of the zoning ordinance and how it came to be and how it's changed in the last two or three years based on the comprehensive plan. So good. And actually, I mentioned that it gets updated every five years. And if you're doing the math, we're we're closing in on the next one, too. So we'll start the process of developing the next comprehensive plan in in the next year, the next couple of years, really. And so anytime you all have any questions or anything, we're happy to come back and either report stuff to you or get your feedback or input or anything that you like. So I just wanted to offer that to you. Is there going to be a 2023 comprehensive plan? Is that the plan? That's the plan. There will be a 2023 version of it. Some versions, some five-year updates are more of a huge overhaul. Some of them are kind of a lighter dusting off and trying to figure it out. So we'll have to see what the process looks like for this, but we'll be required by state statute to update it for 2023. Yeah, I would really appreciate a copy of that. I think that's some of it I've seen. I was thinking of the whole placemaking business. My son was involved in the Trust for Public Land. He was the director of creative placemaking. So I've heard a lot about that. That's great. That's great. Good deal. Thank you, Tim. Thank you. The last item on the agenda, or at least the next item on the agenda, is consideration of the 2022 Board of Adjustment meeting and filing schedule. You've got in front of you a single sheet that suggests meeting dates for next year. um i like to consider these uh and hopefully vote on it either next month or the following so uh take this seriously i what i do is i take this sheet and i go home and look at my calendar and see all the potential conflicts i have or may have and see it's a plan where uh where i can work around it or something like that but that's that's what we do every year so it's time again for us to look at the calendar for next year so take this sheet home with you and check it against conflicts on your own calendar and be prepared to speak about it next month and they are currently drafted as again the second second monday of the month so yeah that didn't change second monday of the month good okay well I presume that we will continue that unless somebody on the board has a big objection. Any further items from the staff? Yes. Mr. Duncan asked me to invite you all, or remember to invite you all, we have an orientation on Friday morning for new Planning Commission members. If anyone on the board would like to attend, it will be via Zoom. You do not have to, but it would count towards training that you generally require training. So if you wanted to get a refresher, just send me an email, and I can forward out the Zoom information. What goes on on Friday morning? What takes place? It's an overview from each of our managers for the three sections. So I give an overview for planning services. Chris talks about, and he left me already. long-range planning and then we have a manager for the transportation section and he'll he discusses what happens in for the MPO and the transportation section mr. Duncan gives an overview also of planning and then we do get into a little more depth about the Board of Adjustment and the authority derived for that as well as the Planning Commission activities and then miss Jones also gives information about ethics and KRS I believe so kind of the basics how long is that it's a four-hour orientation so if there's something specific you're interested in I can give well if you remember we were never on time for those if you're interested in the overview from mr. Duncan he's right at the beginning at 8 30. Yes I can if you want I think if you send us send us a zoom invite to that we'll see who responds appreciate it sure. Yes ma'am. planning for 30 years? The horizon for the plan is 20 years usually, but I would say yes, the adopted comprehensive plan does accommodate 20 years worth of growth. So that was true five years ago when we adopted it, and it will be true again in 2023. So between now and then there's the evaluation of are you referring to the land consumption? Yes, there's an evaluation of the land consumption and whether there's enough land within our urban service boundary to accommodate growth. Yes, as are many people. Oh, yeah. No. Oh. Oh. And the mayor's task force for sustainable growth has been evaluating that, and they're actually having a public hearing in front of the planning commission in two, two weeks, two and a half weeks. two weeks yes October 28th a lot about affordable housing and when I hear her I say okay what's the solution you can talk about it but nothing has really been done other than stack on and stack on and fill in and fill in and this neighbor's mad because they're looking over into their yard now i get all kinds of interesting comments as do i well i'm yes i do okay thank you thank you and before we leave uh staff uh is is there anything from legal that we need to be updated on i know there there are some cases on appeal and some cases in the courts Anything particularly we need to know about today? No, not today, but if you want an update next month, we would probably need to do that in one session. That would be helpful. I've got questions. So, yeah, if you could plan on that, Tracy, that would help us. Thank you so much. Okay. Our next meeting date is November 8th. If there are no further matters, I will declare us adjourned. Thank you, everybody.