The following statement was released on Wednesday, July 27, by the below-listed members of the community in Lexington, Ky., in response to the approval for a soccer complex in an agriculture-rural zone which had been home to the Ashwood Training Center on Russell Cave Road.
The site plan has the soccer fields located where the training track sits and near the southeast border of Fasig-Tipton Kentucky's sale grounds. The fields are adjacent to trainer Ken McPeek's Magdalena Farm. The site plan also calls for 750 parking spaces.
There have been questions about the relationship between the proposed recreational fields and an “anticipated” commercial stadium for a USL League One professional soccer franchise that is coming to Lexington in 2023. Plans for a downtown soccer stadium have fallen through and no new plans have been announced. The site plan does not include a stadium, though the Division of Planning staff said “separation between the uses” (recreational soccer fields and pro stadium) should be more “clearly delineated.” William J. Shively, owner of Dixiana Farm in Lexington, brought the franchise to Lexington. Vince Gabbert, a former vice president at Keeneland, is the soccer franchise president.
Fayette Alliance, Greg Goodman, Don Robinson, and Lisa Lourie on Monday filed a legal appeal against the Lexington-Fayette County Board of Adjustment's approval of a conditional use proposal by Anderson Communities in conjunction with and on behalf of Lexington Sporting Club to develop intense commercial soccer facilities on property located in the Agricultural-Rural (A-R) zone.
Fayette Alliance has also filed an Open Records Request to uncover additional information regarding the process by which recommendations for approval were made and ultimately adopted.
“This proposal threatens Lexington's signature agricultural and equine industries by reversing course on the historic land-use precedent that protects the land they depend on from inappropriate urban development – something our community has honored for decades,” said Fayette Alliance Executive Director Brittany Roethemeier. “Not only did the Board of Adjustment dismiss the earnest testimony of dozens of concerned citizens and hundreds of letters written in opposition, but they also ignored all of the most protective of the Planning Staff's 19 recommended conditions of approval that were designed to mitigate the adverse consequences generated by the soccer complex. Fayette Alliance questions the legal basis for the approval of this proposal, and we look forward to making our case against it in court on behalf of the entire Lexington-Fayette community.”
“The purpose of the A-R zone is to preserve the rural character and nationally significant soils that are synonymous with the Lexington we know and love. We are therefore disturbed by the approval of this disruptive proposal, especially given the substantial amount of unrebutted testimony about safety concerns over existing roadway capacity and adverse environmental impacts,” Bruce Simpson of Rose Grasch Camenisch Mains PLLC said. “The entire process has lacked transparency and buy-in from the community.”
Anderson Communities failed to present any studies or traffic management plans at the hearing and did not engage with the Division of Traffic Engineering beforehand. Additionally, the Board ignored a local law requiring them to review “potential impacts to any identified environmentally sensitive area,” such as the millions of gallons of polluted stormwater that the development would generate and feed into nearby Cane Run Creek. Nevertheless, the conditional use request was approved without requiring the applicant address the concerns raised during an environmental expert's testimony.
On Thursday, the Planning Commission will consider two zoning ordinance text amendments (ZOTAs) that would permit lights, concessions and retail sales at the Newtown site as well as a 10,000-person stadium, thousands of surface parking spaces and intense commercial use in the nearby Economic Development zone. Approval of these ZOTAs would bring forth a cascade of unintended consequences to the detriment of the indispensable Bluegrass farmland that has supported this community's sustainable and responsible growth since it came under protection in 1958. Together, these proposals constitute an alarming departure from Lexington's history of responsible land use and policy decisions informed by careful consideration of both intended and unintended consequences for the community.
About Fayette Alliance
Fayette Alliance is a non-profit dedicated to achieving sustainable, equitable growth in Lexington-Fayette County through land-use advocacy, education, and research. Fayette Alliance believes that preserving our unique and productive Bluegrass farmland, advancing innovative development, and improving our infrastructure are essential to our collective success. Through efforts at government and beyond, Fayette Alliance positively impacts countywide planning and zoning laws and policies – which are the building blocks of a better quality of life, economy, and environment for Lexington.
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