Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Certificate Of Appropriateness topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning commission approves landscaping, design for Founders Hall at Washington Lee University
Summary
The Lexington Planning Commission unanimously approved the entrance corridor certificate of appropriateness (ECCA 2026-03) for Founders Hall at 204 W. Washington St., accepting revised elevations and additional street trees to reduce the building's perceived mass; one member recused.
The Lexington Planning Commission on April 9 unanimously approved landscaping and design elements for Founders Hall, a new academic building proposed at 204 West Washington Street, accepting revised elevations and a pedestrian-focused landscape plan intended to reduce the structure's visual mass.
Planning staff said the applicant provided two revised 5-foot-perspective elevations and additional street trees along Lee Avenue after the commission's March 26 meeting. "You'll notice on the plan view at least two additional trees on the Lee Avenue side and same in the perspectives," staff member Arie said during the meeting.
Tom Kilaski, executive director of facilities at Washington Lee University, told the commission the revised landscape plan resulted from work by the university's landscape architects and a peer review by a local landscape architect. "In their professional opinion it's sufficient to reduce the visual mass of the building," Kilaski said.
A member noted a prior recusal: one commissioner stepped down from deliberations on this application because of employment with Washington Lee University; the speaker did not provide a name on the record beyond the disclosure that they had recused for that reason.
There were no public comments on the application at the meeting. Commissioners who spoke praised the updated elevations and the addition of hornbeam plantings along Lee Avenue, saying the changes "make a huge difference" and will help the building "fit that space beautifully." After discussion, the commission moved and seconded a motion "to approve the landscaping and design elements as proposed of this entrance corridor certificate of appropriateness application ECCA 2026-03 for the construction of the new Founders Hall at the southwest corner of Washington Street and Lee Avenue as proposed by the applicant." The motion carried unanimously.
The approved plans are to be implemented under the direction of the planning director and staff, and the commission noted final site-plan enforcement and related permitting remain part of the city's review process. The approval recorded at the meeting covers the design and landscaping elements as presented.
The commission then proceeded to its next agenda item, a first reading of zoning text changes related to planned-unit developments.
