Neighbors oppose 6-townhouse rezoning at 940 Higbee Mill Road; council gives first reading

Residents of the Higbee Mill neighborhood and their attorney urged the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council to reject a requested rezoning for 940 Higbee Mill Road, saying the proposed development is out of character, raises safety and parking concerns, and followed inadequate public outreach.

Michelle Harr, president of the Higbee Mill Neighborhood Association, told the council the neighborhood is "vehemently opposed" to the zone change request. Harr said the applicant did not engage the neighborhood in good faith until planning staff required contact and described neighbors' interactions with the applicant as feeling "stalked, bullied, and intimidated." She said the applicant admitted he could build two single-family detached homes without a zone change and asked why he insisted on six townhouses on a small lot.

Lexi Holland, representing homeowners directly behind the property, expanded on those concerns and cited a string of aggressive actions by the applicant's principal, including sending letters, filing code-enforcement complaints and suing neighbors. Holland said a judge (Judge Bunnell) dismissed the suit last week for lack of an actual controversy. Holland also noted planning staff repeatedly flagged a lack of meaningful public outreach in written reports.

Neighbors objected to specifics of the proposal, including the intensity of six townhouses on roughly 0.52 net acres, the absence of public transportation near the site, potential difficulties for large emergency vehicles and a lack of adequate on-site parking. Harr told the council, "Stuffing six townhouses into this space will make life very difficult for vehicle access, garbage truck access, EMTs, fire trucks, and lengthy disruptions due to the difficult construction on this particular site." Holland noted the comprehensive plan favors lower-intensity multi-family forms such as duplexes or fourplexes where smaller-scale transitions are appropriate.

The council gave first reading to an ordinance to change the zoning from single-family residential (R-1C) to townhouse residential (R-1T) for the 0.52 net (0.756 gross) acre property at 940 Higbee Mill Road, a petition by Realty Unlimited Bluegrass LLC. No final vote occurred on the rezoning during the meeting; subsequent planning commission and council hearings will determine whether the change advances.

The transcript shows neighbors and their attorney asked council members to scrutinize whether meaningful public engagement is a genuine requirement of Lexington's development process. Planning staff had noted limited outreach by the applicant, and residents asked the council to treat public engagement as mandatory rather than optional.

Next steps on the request were not specified on the record beyond the ordinance's first reading; the council did not adopt or deny the zone change at this meeting. The council packet and future planning staff reports will provide more detail for subsequent deliberations and votes.