Planning commission declines to find Bluegrass Airport expansion fully consistent with comprehensive plan, cites large surface‑parking expansion

Planning staff presented a public facilities review (PFR) for Bluegrass Airport that recommended the proposed administrative building, relocation of the aviation museum, expanded rental‑car facilities and roughly 800 new paid surface parking spaces were consistent with Lexington’s comprehensive plan goals for airports and rural activity centers — but the Planning Commission voted that the PFR as presented was not in compliance.

Daniel Crum of planning staff summarized the scope: the airport seeks to relocate some administrative and museum functions, establish rental‑car and fuel facilities and add approximately 800 paid parking spaces on land along Man O’ War Boulevard currently used as green/open buffer. Staff recommended the proposal was consistent with comprehensive‑plan goals around economic development, transportation and rural activity centers but asked the airport to explore interior landscaping and tree canopy in the parking area to reduce heat‑island effects.

Commissioners raised environmental and design concerns tied to the large new surface parking area. Commissioner Mickler argued the expansion conflicts with the comp plan’s climate‑and‑design goals and suggested solar canopies or other strategies could mitigate the heat‑island effect. "If we're gonna have a big parking lot, they put canopies over those parking lots and, solar panels on top and generate electricity there," he said. Several commissioners noted the airport faces constraints — wildlife hazards around trees, the need to avoid bird attractants near flight paths and high cost for shaded/structured parking — but they…