LFUCG Urban County Council Government Center 200 East Main Street Lexington, KY June 5 th, Dear Vice Mayor Kay and Council members,

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1 LFUCG Urban County Council Government Center 200 East Main Street Lexington, KY June 5 th, 2015 Fayette Alliance 603 West Short Street Lexington, Kentucky Phone Fax info@fayettealliance.com fayettealliance.com Board Members Eunice A. Beatty, Phd James G. Bell Price Bell, Jr. Sandra Noble Canon Todd Clark Kip Cornett Susan Enlow Greg Goodman Gay Haggin VanMeter Dave Harper Stan Harvey Barry Holmes Patrick McGee Chauncey Morris John Phillips Tom Poskin Walt Robertson Don Robinson Jack van Nagell Griffin VanMeter Holly Wiedemann Anthony Wright Sustainers Josephine Abercrombie Helen Alexander Andover Management Group Ann Bakhaus Ian Banwell Antony & Angela Beck Gary Biszantz Alex Campbell Darley Fayette Co. Farm Bureau David & Philippa Fogg Greg Goodman Dave Harper John Hendrickson Sally Humphrey Keeneland Association KTA Murray & Teri Kessler Lane s End Farm Langley Properties Co. Lisa Lourie Deirdre Lyons Richard & Sue Ann Masson Joe & Jacqueline Murphy Don Robinson Bill Shively Tom VanMeter Derek Vaughan Fra Vaughan Brian & Lori Wood Misdee Wrigley Miller Dear Vice Mayor Kay and Council members, My name is Knox van Nagell, and I am writing this letter on behalf of Fayette Alliance. The Fayette Alliance is Lexington s only land-use advocacy organization dedicated to sustainably growing our city and promoting our farms in Fayette County, for the benefit of the entire community. Established in 2006, the Alliance represents over 15,000 constituents countywide and believes that Lexington can become the model for sustainable growth by creating a vibrant city that is balanced with, and connected to our productive Bluegrass farmland. In furtherance of this mission, Fayette Alliance supports ZOTA : Amendments to Articles 8-7, 8-18, & 8-19 & Article 27 for the creation of the Design Excellence Standards and Guidelines program; and the enactment of necessary infill incentives for downtown Lexington. Beginning in 2010, the Council appointed the Design Excellence Task Force consisting of developers, architects, residents, neighborhood representatives, and government staff to examine how Lexington can better encourage both well designed and profitable infill projects in the heart of downtown. Good urban design and financial incentives are proven ingredients for achieving economically robust development, and consequently dynamic downtowns and cities across the United States. A healthy partnership between public regulation and private investment is essential to achieving compelling built-environments, and this is the goal of the Design Excellence program: [It] is a framework for the future development of downtown Lexington, aimed at enhancing the existing built environment and protecting economic investments in downtown. It aims to ensure new development, rehabilitation, and adaptive reuse projects are consistent with the city s vision while offering a predictable and transparent process for the applicant. - Design Excellence Presentation, Downtown Development Authority, LFUCG Planning Committee, February 10 th, See enclosure for full presentation. Executive Director Knox van Nagell, J.D.

2 Using extensive local and national market analyses, building inventories, and zoning ordinance research, the Taskforce recommended a standards and guidelines approach that applies both quantifiable and flexible building criteria to projects in the proposed Design Excellence Area. Design Excellence Presentation, Page 10 If adopted, the Design Excellence program will apply to 900 parcels in the core of downtown Lexington, zoned in the Business-2 (B-2) category and subsuming the Court House Area Overlay District. On properties where both the H-1 and Design Excellence Overlays apply, only the H-1 requirements will govern. Design Excellence Presentation, Page 8 2

3 The taskforce recommended that a Design Excellence Officer, Project Facilitator, and sevenmember Board administer the program. Appeals will be heard by the Circuit Court. Design Excellence Presentation, Page 18 With many opportunities for staff approvals and credentialed professionals administering the program, Design Excellence is an improvement over its predecessor the Court House Area Overlay District in terms of streamlining process, promoting regulatory flexibility, and achieving intended outcomes. Therefore, Fayette Alliance respectfully requests its approval. Design Excellence Presentation, Page 13 3

4 However, Design Excellence, nor any other design program can, by itself, facilitate needed development in downtown Lexington. Incentives are crucial. If robust and targeted, incentives offset the additional costs associated with holding development projects to a higher, and often more costly, design standard. The economic and quality of life benefits associated with this design premium are proven whether in Vancouver, San Francisco, Madison, or Greenville. In pursuit of this strategy, the Design Excellence Task Force, LFUCG staff, and leaders in the development community have identified several key incentives to apply in concert with the Design Excellence program to achieve needed growth in the core of our city. The Council has a timely and important opportunity to affirm Lexington s serious commitment to infill development, and should affirm the Design Excellence Program, along with the following incentives during the FY 16 budget process: 1. Review the 10-year Parking Authority Masterplan, and request that DDA work with Parking Authority leadership to determine a business plan for the immediate construction of additional parking garages downtown. By determining such a business plan, public and private partnerships can strategically identify to finance and construct the facilities. Like sewers, sidewalks, and roads parking garages are basic infrastructure for urban infill projects. Without them, developers cannot financially respond to expensive parking requirements on one hand, and inflated land prices and the limited purchasing power of our market on the other. Increasing downtown density and growth cannot happen without parking garages. LFUCG must act now. 2. Allocate $500,000 to start an incentives fund for residential and commercial projects located inside Lexington s infill redevelopment area. These monies should grow with demand, and be available for residential or commercial development bringing significant private investment, high-quality jobs, or workforce retention to Lexington. The DDA, Council, and Administration must work with the private sector to determine fund-criteria for immediate implementation. 3. Allocate $50,000 to create a TIF application assistance fund, to assist the private sector in leveraging state monies for infrastructure improvements during the course of building largescale, high-yielding infill projects. 4. Allocate $79,860 to hire the Design Excellence and Infill Facilitator positions, to equip LFUCG with the human resources needed for efficient zoning implementation downtown, and throughout Lexington-Fayette County. The Council must enact the aforementioned incentives so they can work with the Design Excellence Program to make valuable infill projects a reality in the face of high land prices, financial risk, and shifting demographic and real estate markets in Lexington. According to the recommendations of the Downtown Masterplan, the 2013 Comprehensive Plan, and community surveys, it's clear that Lexingtonians are committed to responsibly growing up, not out in the interests of economic development, quality of life, and environmental benefits...and government must set the regulatory stage to make it easier not harder for the private sector to accomplish this vision. If done right, a stick and carrot approach will facilitate well-designed and feasible development in our urban core. This strategy can become a template for promoting real estate value not only for downtown, but also other parts of Lexington. 4

5 Like reaping returns on a well-managed stock portfolio, Design Excellence coupled with infill incentives will leverage Lexington s considerable $1 billion investment* in the heart of our city...benefitting our countywide infill potential and farmland preservation efforts today and into the future. *LDDA, 2015 Downtown Market Inventory, Lexington KY, pg.10. Therefore, we ask you to support ZOTA : Amendments to Articles 8-7, 8-18, & 8-19 & Article 27 for the creation of the Design Excellence Standards and Guidelines program; and the enactment of the aforementioned infill incentives. Thank you for your consideration of our position, and we stand ready to help this most important initiative moving forward. All my best, Knox van Nagell, J.D. cc: Mayor Jim Gray; Dr. Derek Paulsen, Planning Commissioner; Mr. Jeff Fugate, DDA; Mr. Chris King, Director LFUCG Div. of Planning 5