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Lexington City Council unanimously approved the zoning text amendment for the new Planned Development-Mixed Use zoning district at its meeting on Feb. 2.
The ordinance was the result of more than a year’s worth of work by the Planning Commission and was approved by the Commission last October following a pair of public hearings and input from the public.
The new zoning district will be an option for potential developers in two of the city’s opportunity areas: along East Nelson Street between Col Alto and Sheetz and on South Main Street between the firehouse and the Econo-Lodge. Both areas are zoned as C-2 (General Commerce) districts, and will remain zoned that way, but future developers will have the option to have a portion of those areas rezoned as mixed use if they meet certain critera, including having at least three acres for development and adhere to 30-foot setback requirements from any neighboring residential areas.
“It gives an opportunity for developers to propose something that can be designed better than in our traditional zoning [districts],” said Council member Leslie Straughan. “It’s not meant to avoid our traditional zoning, but allows some latitude to try something interesting and that could be better than what could traditionally be done. I like that about it.”
Any developers who wish to take advantage of the mixed use zoning designation would have to follow a list of more than a dozen guidelines listed in the ordinance, including having an environmentally friendly design, buildings and spaces of appropriate scale, appropriately screened parking, clear boundaries with any surrounding rural areas and neighborhood friendly streets and paths. If any of these elements are not included, the developer will have to provide written justification for their exclusion from the proposed design when the rezoning request is presented to the Planning Commission for approval.
