LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Lexington Planning Commission on Thursday unanimously approved a 55-lot single-family subdivision on Price Road while directing residents of the adjacent historic St. Martins Village to take their fight over street connectivity to the Urban County Council. In a separate and mo re contentious vote, the commission approved a 45-unit affordable senior living facility on Old Schoolhouse Lane over vigorous neighborhood opposition, with at least one commissioner voting against it. The two cases consumed much of the afternoon session and both turned on a similar tension: residents seeking to preserve the character of established neighborhoods against developments that staff said met all applicable regulations. Suburban Point: 55 lots, three contested streets The first case, a preliminary subdivision plan for the Suburban Point Subdivision Expansion at 421 Price Road, would create 55 single-family lots, two open space parcels, a detention basin and new streets on a large undeveloped parcel near Georgetown Road. The property is zoned R-1D, the same as the surrounding neighborhood. The plan drew opposition from St. Martins Village, a neighborhood that residents and a historian who addressed the commission described as the first subdivision specifically established for Black homeowners in Lexington, dating to 1955. Residents said three stub streets — Dominican Drive, St. Martins Avenue and Tibbs Lane — were never designed to handle traffic from new development and that connecting them would erode the neighborhood’s historic character and quiet residential feel. Attorney Bruce Simpson, representing the St. Martins Village Neighborhood Association, asked the commission to either defer the vote so planner Ed Holmes could testify in person, or approve the plan with a condition that the three streets not be connected. He submitted a letter from Holmes, a nationally certified planner, arguing the connections would effectively convert local streets into collectors. Applicant attorney Nick Nicholson told the commission his client would support the neighborhood’s effort to close the streets but said he could not in good faith request a waiver from subdivision regulations requiring connectivity, since the proposed development is single-family on single-family zoning — unlike a previous proposal that would have extended a mobile home park into the area. He urged residents to pursue street closures or barricades through the Urban County Council, which has authority over public rights-of-way. John Connor, whose 99-year-old mother still lives on Tibbs Lane, told the commission his family moved to St. Martins Village in 1956. He asked that the streets remain closed to preserve the neighborhood’s character for future generations. Historian Austin Zinkel placed the neighborhood’s founding in the context of redlining and structural racism, calling it significant not because it was a product of discrimination but because it represents perseverance and the promise of homeownership for Black Lexingtonians. Shawnetta Thomas made an emotional appeal to save a memorial tree on Price Road where her family gathers to honor her husband Michael, who was killed by a drunk driver on the road in 2013. She said her children and grandchildren mark milestones — graduations, scholarships, first steps — at the tree. Staff attorney Tracy Jones told the commission it could not grant a waiver that was never applied for and cautioned that the 90-day statutory deadline for action would expire before the next hearing. Planning staff noted the subdivision regulations require street continuity and that the stub streets, which were never terminated with cul-de-sacs, indicate an intent to connect. Jones said street closures and barricades are a council function, not a planning commission one. Commissioner Judy Worth noted the commission had previously voted to block street connections on the same property during an earlier zone-change proposal involving a mobile home park, but was told the circumstances differ because this plan involves compatible single-family development. The commission voted unanimously to approve the plan with 10 conditions, including standard sign-offs from engineering, traffic, landscaping and environmental divisions. Senior housing on Old Schoolhouse Lane: ‘Bait and switch’ or lawful use? The second and more divisive case involved a development plan for a 45-unit affordable senior living facility and 10 single-family lots on a roughly three-acre portion of the former Camic/Savage property at 4630 Old Schoolhouse Lane, near Harrodsburg Road. AU Associates, a third-party buyer unrelated to the original property owner, proposes a two-story building for residents age 55 and older earning less than 60% of area median income — roughly $44,000 for a single person. The project would include 33 one-bedroom and 12 two-bedroom rental units and would be funded through the low-income housing tax credit program. It is not an assisted living or medical facility. The property was rezoned from agricultural to R-3 in 2022 based on a preliminary development plan showing 88 single-family homes across the full parcel. Residents of the neighboring Dogwood Trace subdivision said the original applicant’s attorney, Nick Nicholson, made repeated promises during those hearings that the development would be exclusively single-family — promises they said the commission, council and neighborhood relied upon. Attorney Bruce Simpson, this time representing the Dogwood Trace Neighborhood Association, called the proposal an impermissible “bait and switch” and argued it violated principles of promissory estoppel and good faith. He asked the commission to reject the plan and hold the property owner to the original commitment. Multiple Dogwood Trace residents echoed that theme. Bennett Clark, whose property directly abuts the site, presented photographs of mature trees in the required 10-foot buffer that had fallen onto neighboring homes, calling it a safety hazard. His wife Morgan Clark told commissioners their three young children sleep in bedrooms in the path of future tree falls. Resident Chris Coldarn argued the plan fails objective traffic and fire-code standards, citing trip-generation data he said would overload the 30-foot-wide local streets once the barricade on Agape Drive is removed and traffic from multiple surrounding developments flows through. AU Associates president Johan Graham told the commission his firm is unrelated to the original developer and has no control over commitments made during the 2022 zone change. He said the project was redesigned based on neighborhood feedback — reduced from three stories to two, with the building flipped to face Agape Drive and hide parking from adjacent homes. He noted the senior facility would generate roughly the same number of daily vehicle trips as the 15 single-family homes previously planned for the same three-acre parcel, citing Institute of Transportation Engineers data showing congregate care facilities produce about 2 trips per unit daily versus 9.4 for single-family homes. Staff confirmed the R-3 zoning allows multifamily housing and that no conditional zoning restrictions limiting use or density were imposed during the 2022 rezoning — by either the planning commission or the council. The only restriction was a requirement for an 8-foot fence along the property line with existing single-family lots. Commissioner Ivy Barksdale said the absence of conditional restrictions on use means the commission’s 2022 decision was an endorsement of R-3 zoning broadly, not of single-family development specifically. Commissioner Frank Nickel drew a distinction between the original property owner and the current applicant, saying accusations of bad faith should not be directed at an affordable housing developer purchasing a lawfully zoned parcel. Commissioner Mike Owens said he would vote against the plan, citing the need for single-family housing and concerns about compatibility with the surrounding neighborhood. But most commissioners concluded they lacked legal grounds to deny a plan that meets all R-3 requirements. The plan was approved by majority vote with 13 conditions. The dissenting vote count was not clearly stated in the proceedings. Staff noted the western portion of the property remains undeveloped with no plan filed, leaving open the possibility of future proposals — a prospect several commissioners and residents flagged as a continuing concern. The post Lexington planners approve 55-lot subdivision near historic Black neighborhood, OK senior housing over residents’ objections appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less