Sustainable Growth Study

As part of its efforts to fulfill a central goal of the 2018 Imagine Lexington comprehensive plan, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government has engaged in developing an objective, transparent, and reliable framework to inform long-term land-use decisions involving the Urban Service Boundary (USB) and its role in protecting the urban and rural balance that makes Lexington unique.

This framework provides local officials and community stakeholders with the tools to evaluate land-use decisions within the context of the ideal use and preservation of resources within the USB, with a particular focus on maintaining a strong economy and high quality of life throughout the Lexington community.

Development of this framework involved exploring and assessing existing conditions within the USB, which include: the inventory of available land; past and current planning efforts; economic and population trends; and the insights and priorities of the diverse stakeholders and constituents that call Lexington home.

Three representative land development scenarios within the USB help identify the methods and criteria for the evaluation framework. The Sustainable Growth Task Force, community stakeholders and the public have been engaged throughout this process to create consensus on both the land-use scenario and the evaluation framework itself.