The Lexington-Fayette County Planning Commission has given final approval to an Urban Growth Management Master Plan. This is the document that sets out the development strategy for 28 hundred acres in five expansion areas. The topic of concurrency when it comes to residential and commercial development created a lot of discussion Thursday. Commissioner Bruce R. Nicol Junior worried requiring retail in a residential area would be difficult. “That concurrency will cause a hard stop on being able to finance the development of the land that we’ve worked so hard to include in our Urban Service Area,” said Nicol. Two other commissioners, Robin Michler and Graham Pohl thought the original recommendation was reasonable. It called for 4000 square feet of commercial development once 20% of the residential site had dwelling units. That requirement was changed to a 40% level of residential construction. Adding affordable housing has been cited as a reason for expanding the Urban Service Boundary. But Commissioner Bill Wilson said that’s been a silent topic. “And yet we don’t talk about it. It’s almost like we’re admiring the problem, but we’re not doing anything about it per se. And that’s not gonna come about by accident. That’s gonna have to come about by intentionality,” said Wilson. In detailing the village and town center types of residential-based developments, Consultant Samantha Castro spoke about distinguishing streets as avenues. She told the planning panel that signals a move toward connectivity through pedestrian, bike, and transit methods. ** WEKU is working hard to be a leading source for public service, and fact-based journalism. Monthly supporters are the top funding source for this growing nonprofit news organization. Please join others in your community who support WEKU by making your donation. The post Fayette Planning Commission finalizes growth plan for 28 hundred additional acres appeared first on The Lexington Times.