Council approves Parkers Mill rezoning and ordinance to remove B3 minimum building coverage after public comment

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council on July 1 approved two ordinances at second reading: rezoning 1899 Parkers Mill Road from single-family residential (R‑1A) to planned neighborhood residential (R‑3) and an amendment to Article 8.20 of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Zoning Ordinance that removes a minimum building lot-coverage requirement for the corridor business (B3) zone.

The approval followed a public comment from Amy Clark, who identified herself as a resident in the third district and urged the council to reject the B3 change. Clark said the amendment would “strike the 30% minimum building area requirement” and urged the council to “Vote no on B3 SOTA 20 five-two.” She told the council the existing requirement supports sidewalks, transit, and more usable building area for homes and full‑time jobs and recommended replacing the lot-coverage metric with a floor‑area‑ratio (FAR) so developers can build up rather than spread out.

Clark said the change came to the council with “a highly divided recommendation from the planning commission and was not recommended by the planning staff.” She urged the…