Lexington Downtown Master Plan Public Meeting

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

7:00 p.m.

Third Floor Community Room, Phoenix Building

101 East Vine Street

Lexington, KY 40507

 

Attendees

 

Steering Committee Members:   Jim Clark, Bill Johnston, Tim Kelly, Amy Lett

 

Consultants: Tom Creasey, Brian Aldridge and Dhiru Thadani,

 

Lexington Downtown Development Authority Staff:  Harold Tate and Penny Ebel

 

Other Attendees:    Steve Baron,  Julian Beard, Jamie Ennis Bloyd, Jacalyn Carfango,  Dwight Carpenter, John Cirigliano, Lee Dorsey, Ged Dunn, Beverly Fortune, Bill Fortune,  Linda Godfrey, Rob Hammons, Dal Harper, Henry Jackson, Chris King, Mike Kovash, Julie Logan,  Bernard McCarthy, Gary Means, Jamie Millard, Win Meeker, David Mohney, Andrew Moore, Bill Owen, Van Meter Pettit, Rachel Phillips, Barb Rackers, George Russell,  Todd Smith, Judi Sparks, David Stevens and Jennifer Thompson

 

Meeting Summary

 

I.                     Welcome

Meeting brought to order (Chairman Tim Kelly)

 

II.                   Review of May 25, 2005 minutes (Chairman Tim Kelly)

There was a motion for acceptance.  There was unanimous approval of the minutes.

 

III.                 Downtown Transportation Analysis Findings (Tom Creasey)

                Mr. Creasey gave a powerpoint presentation discussing the following: anticipated changes in downtown population and employment, projected future peak traffic conditions and one-way  to

                two-way street conversion scenarios.  Presentation is attached.

 Discussion:

       

·         What are peak traffic hours?  Morning hours are 7:30 to 9 a.m., and evening hours are 4:30 to 6 p.m.

·         Could we remove on street parking during off-peak hours?  Yes, many cities do this during rush hour.

·         Could there be an increase of traffic on 3rd, 4th & 5th streets if  we convert some one way to two way?  Yes

·         Could there be a possibility of increased fuel consumption and emissions due to cars idling at stop lights?  Yes

·         What is the impact of Newtown Pike Extension?  With this study, the numbers include the Newtown Pike Extension being in place by 2030.

·         Could there be incentives to stagger work shifts?  Yes, and many businesses and companies already are doing staggered work shifts such as the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government.

·         Doesn’t there appear to be a significant increase of speed on current downtown streets?  Yes, and two way could be one method of slowing down traffic.

·         Many retailers will not come to Downtown because of one-way streets.  500 on Main and Main and Rose have had some retailers indicate that they are not interested in their locations due to the one way traffic patterns.

·         What can we do now to slow down traffic on Vine Street?  Change speed limits and/or coordinate traffic signals?   Reducing speed and changing time periods for traffic signals are one way to slow down traffic.

·         With the increase of residential population downtown (by 8,000), won’t this increase numbers of people walking, and will this increase safety issues for pedestrians?  Yes, that is why we need to address traffic problems now before it gets worse.

·         We need to make downtown more pedestrian friendly

·         We need to enforce speeding violators.  Downtown neighborhood streets are speedways.

·         Our goal is to move people to downtown, not through downtown

·         What do we do to preserve the wonderful downtown neighborhoods, while allowing new development to work within and around?  That is a discussion that needs to occur now so that we can all work together to come up with solutions.       

       

IV.                 Process for implementation (Harold Tate and Chris King)

 

Discussion

After tonight’s meeting, the Downtown Master Plan will be reviewed by the Planning Staff and the LLDA so that a final copy can be released for public review.  That should occur before the end of the year.  Next, the entire plan will be presented to the Urban County Planning Commission.  The Planning Commission will hold public hearings for review and comments.  The Downtown Master Plan Principles have been presented to the Planning Commission for their review and the preliminary projected residential units have also been reviewed by the Planning Commission.  In addition, many of the principles of the Downtown Master Plan have been accomplished or are underway such as:  

·         Change land use – The mixed use zoning category has been created to allow mixed use within the downtown area.

·         Increase residential development – There are currently over 18 residential projects underway in the downtown area.

·         Create a parking authority – This authority was created and established in 2006.

·         Increase density downtown – Currently we are averaging with our new projects 55 units per acre in the downtown area.

·         Create a museum/community center to celebrate the Eastend Neighborhood. -  The Lyric Theater committee is reviewing this principle and including it in their project.

·         Make Farmer’s Market a permanent amenity. – The LDDA is working with the Farmer’s Market on a permanent location.   

 

The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m. (Tim Kelly)