The On the Table Guide to Imagine Lexington, our 2018 Comprehensive Plan


Watch the Division of Planning’s explanation of the Comprehensive Plan:

 

What is a Comprehensive Plan?

A Comprehensive Plan, or Comp Plan, is a document that city governments around the country use to lay out how a city or county should grow over an extended period of time (20 years in Lexington’s case). It is a way of planning for the long term goals of a city, and is designed to be created and used by the entire community - including residents, developers, business owners, government employees, and more!

In Lexington, the Comprehensive Plan (or Comp Plan) is updated every 5 years and published by the Planning Department, after review and approval by City Council and the Planning Commission. Lexington’s last Comp Plan came out in 2018 and is called Imagine Lexington. Imagine Lexington was a pretty big deal in the world of Lexington planning - it has more community engagement, a new structure, different branding, and a lot of substantial changes from previous Comp Plans. The next Comp Plan will be released in 2023, and will continue the modernizations of Imagine Lexington.


Why do we have a Comp Plan?

There are a lot of reasons to have a Comp Plan. One of the biggest ones is that Kentucky State Law actually requires it or a similar document for communities that regulate land use. Comp Plans are also a big part of how cities make decision about zoning changes (changing what kind of building can be constructed in a certain place) and new developments. Regulating these processes through a 20-year document like the Comp Plan helps make sure the polices are thinking about the future, accessible to the community, and all organized in once place.


How is the Comp Plan organized?

The majority of the 2018 Comp Plan is organized by Five Major Themes. These themes are how the goals and objectives (AKA the specific desired outcomes) of the plan are categorized, so it’s important to understand how to use them.

One way to think about it is to imagine the Comp Plan as a giant tree. If the plan is a tree, the themes are its five biggest limbs. Each branch has smaller branches (the goals), and those branches have their own twigs (the objectives). Beyond the goals and objectives, themes also contain other important information, including a description of where we are now and a strategy pillar with policies and action items for implementation.

There is also a section of the Comp Plan called the Placebuilder, which is the system for deciding if a certain development can be built, based on what “place type” it will occupy. Each place type has its own set of criteria that a development should try to meet, covering things like parking, landscaping, occupancy, development type, effect on floodplains, and lots of other issues you have to consider when you are constructing a building. When someone is trying to get a new development approved, they make a case for what place type it will be and how it meets most of that type’s criteria.

What are some of the topics that the Comp Plan impacts?

The themes of the comp plan cover A LOT of different topics. We have listed some of them out below. If you want to get into more detail, you can check out the Imagine Lexington Website.

  • Theme 1: Growing Successful Neighborhoods

    • Housing

    • Infill and Redevelopment, the process of creating new housing/businesses by renovating or replacing current buildings or on vacant lots, instead of developing on new land

    • Neighborhood Design

    • Community Facilities

  • Theme 2: Protecting the Environment

  • Theme 3: Creating Jobs and Prosperity

    • Attracting quality jobs to Lexington

    • Building up local businesses and job opportunities

    • Increasing land available for economic developments

  • Theme 4: Improving a Desirable Community

    • Transportation

    • Public safety and social services

    • Education

    • Cultural & historic preservation

  • Theme 5: Urban and Rural Balance

    • The Urban Services Boundary

    • Agricultural and natural land in Fayette County

    • New Developments (housing + businesses)

What does all of this have to do with On the Table?

Kentucky state law requires that cities update the Comp Plan every 5 years. Lexington’s next Comp Plan is due to be published in 2023, and takes more than a year to write. On the Table, and specifically the On the Table survey, are going to be the primary community wide engagement process for the 2023 Comp Plan, meaning that all of the data we collect on how people feel about Lexington’s future will be incorporated directly into the way the Comp Plan is written. This is a big opportunity for the Comp Plan to be written for all Lexingtonians, and for each resident to make sure their voice is heard in the plan for Lexington’s future!