Planning Commission Zoning Public Hearing

Summary

Meeting Overview

The Urban County Planning Commission convened on March 27, 2014, at 1:30 PM in the Council Chamber on the second floor of the LFUCG Government Center at 200 East Main Street in Lexington, Kentucky, with Mike Owens presiding as the meeting officer. The commission addressed three agenda items during the session, including the approval of minutes from a previous meeting and consideration of two development-related matters. The meeting resulted in three recorded votes, with the minutes receiving approval while both the Growth Properties Development Plan and the Boone Creek Properties Zoning Map Amendment and Development Plan were postponed for future consideration. No public comments were heard during this session, indicating limited public participation in the proceedings.

Attendance

The following members were present at the March 27, 2014 meeting:

• Will Berkley
• Carla Blanton
• Mike Cravens
• David Drake
• Karen Mundy
• Mike Owens
• Frank Penn (arrived late)
• Carolyn Plumlee
• Joseph Smith
• Bill Wilson

Absent: Patrick Brewer

Late Arrival: Frank Penn

Ten of the eleven members attended the meeting, with Patrick Brewer being the only absent member. Frank Penn arrived after the meeting had begun.

Votes and Decisions

The Planning Commission took action on three items during the March 27, 2014 meeting.

Minutes Approval Carolyn Plumlee motioned to approve the minutes of the February 27, 2014, Planning Commission meeting, with David Drake providing the second. The motion passed unanimously with all eight commissioners voting in favor: Will Berkley, Carla Blanton, Mike Cravens, David Drake, Mike Owens, Joseph Smith, Bill Wilson, and Carolyn Plumlee.

DP 2014-13: Growth Properties Mike Cravens motioned to postpone DP 2014-13 regarding Growth Properties, seconded by Carolyn Plumlee. The commission voted unanimously (8-0) to postpone the item to the April 10, 2014, Planning Commission meeting. All commissioners voted in favor: Will Berkley, Carla Blanton, Mike Cravens, David Drake, Mike Owens, Joseph Smith, Bill Wilson, and Carolyn Plumlee.

MARC 2014-1 and ZDP 2014-3: Boone Creek Outdoors Carolyn Plumlee motioned for indefinite postponement of MARC 2014-1 and ZDP 2014-3 concerning Boone Creek Outdoors, with Bill Wilson seconding the motion. This item required a roll call vote, resulting in a 7-2-1 decision to postpone indefinitely.

Commissioners voting in favor of postponement were Will Berkley, Carla Blanton, Mike Owens, Joseph Smith, Bill Wilson, Carolyn Plumlee, and Karen Mundy. David Drake voted against the postponement. One abstention was recorded, though the specific commissioner who abstained was not identified in the available records.

All votes were conducted without available transcript timestamps in the source materials.

Contested Items

The meeting included one contested procedural matter regarding the Boone Creek Properties development proposal.

Boone Creek Properties Zoning Map Amendment and Development Plan

A procedural dispute arose when the petitioner for the Boone Creek Properties project requested that the Planning Commission reconsider its previous decision not to hear a conditional use request. The Commission had declined to proceed with the conditional use hearing due to pending litigation related to the project.

The petitioner argued for reconsideration of this procedural decision, seeking to have their conditional use request heard despite the ongoing legal proceedings. However, no Commission member made a motion to reconsider the previous decision to defer the conditional use hearing.

The dispute centered on whether the Commission should proceed with reviewing the conditional use aspects of the development proposal while litigation was still pending, or whether it was appropriate to continue deferring consideration until the legal matters were resolved.

The outcome was that the Commission maintained its previous position - no motion for reconsideration was made, meaning the conditional use request remained deferred pending resolution of the litigation. The petitioner's request for reconsideration was effectively denied through the Commission's inaction on the matter.

This procedural dispute highlighted the intersection between ongoing legal proceedings and the Commission's regular review processes, with the Commission choosing to err on the side of caution by not proceeding with substantive review while court matters remained unresolved.

Approval of Minutes

The Planning Commission considered the minutes from their February 27, 2014 meeting for approval. The discussion involved key speakers Carolyn Plumlee and David Drake.

The Commission reviewed the minutes from the previous month's meeting and proceeded with the standard approval process. No significant concerns or corrections were raised regarding the accuracy or completeness of the February 27, 2014 meeting minutes.

Following their review and discussion, the Planning Commission voted to approve the minutes as presented. The approval was completed without amendment, indicating the Commission found the minutes to be an accurate record of their previous meeting's proceedings.

Growth Properties Development Plan

The council considered agenda item DP 2014-13, the Growth Properties Development Plan, during the March 27, 2014 meeting. Matt Carter served as the key speaker for this discussion item.

The proposal came before the council after review by the Subdivision Committee, which had significant concerns about the development plan. The committee identified two primary issues that led to their recommendation for postponement:

• Land use suitability concerns - The committee questioned whether the proposed single-family residential use was appropriate for the specific site conditions and location
• Storm water flooding issues - Historical flooding problems in the area raised concerns about the development's impact on existing drainage conditions and the safety of future residents

The Subdivision Committee's analysis of these factors resulted in their formal recommendation to postpone consideration of the development plan until these issues could be adequately addressed.

Following the committee's recommendation and the presentation of their concerns, the council voted to postpone DP 2014-13. This postponement allows time for the developer to work with city staff to address the identified issues regarding land use compatibility and storm water management before the plan returns for future consideration.

The postponement reflects the council's commitment to ensuring that new developments are appropriate for their proposed locations and do not exacerbate existing infrastructure challenges, particularly regarding storm water management in areas with documented flooding history.

Boone Creek Properties Zoning Map Amendment and Development Plan

The commission considered agenda items MARC 2014-1 and ZDP 2014-3, which involved a zoning map amendment and development plan for Boone Creek Properties.

Richard Murphy, representing the petitioner, addressed the commission regarding the status of the application. Murphy requested that the zone change and development plan be postponed indefinitely due to pending litigation affecting the project.

No detailed presentation of the proposed zoning changes or development plans was made during the meeting, as the focus remained on the procedural matter of postponement. The commission did not engage in substantive discussion about the merits of the proposed zoning amendment or development plan details.

The commission accepted the petitioner's request, and both the zoning map amendment (MARC 2014-1) and the development plan (ZDP 2014-3) were postponed indefinitely pending resolution of the litigation issues.