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Lexington City Council approved an entrance corridor certificate of appropriateness for the proposed expansion of Washington and Lee University’s Williams School of Commerce, Economics and Politics at its regular business meeting on Aug. 3.
The motion passed in a 3-0 vote as Council members David Sigler, Chuck Smith and Leslie Straughan had recused themselves from the discussion of the issue, citing the fact that their spouses are employed by the university as the basis for their conflict of interest.
The certificate of appropriateness that the school applied for is generally reserved for new construction and signage for buildings along the city’s entrance corridors on East Nelson Street (U.S. 60) and South Main Street (U.S. 11), but since the building is part of the institutional overlay in a R-1 zoning district, a set of standards was required for the building. The city does not currently have a set of standards codified for institutional overlays, so the school utilized the standards for the entrance corridors.
Apublic hearing was held on the proposed expansion, though no members from the public spoke on the issue.
Vice Mayor Marilyn Alexander made the motion and Nicholas Betts provided the second. The certificate was previously approved by the Lexington Planning Commission on July 27.
