Planning commission reviews third public-input session for draft Lexington comprehensive plan; public hearing expected in June

The Lexington Planning Commission met May 14 for the third public-input session on the city's CPA 2025 draft and heard a staff report that several comment sets have been received and will be incorporated into a final draft the commission will consider at a public hearing expected to be advertised for June 11.

Staff said the packet includes comments from prior public-input sessions and that the additional comments from the final session will be incorporated. "I think in June, we're gonna advertise for a public hearing," said the staff member leading the report. Commissioners agreed staff would post meeting materials and example documents on the planning development page of the city website for public review.

Commissioners spent much of the discussion on organization and clarity in the draft. One commissioner asked why the green infrastructure chapter is separated from land use, transportation and community infrastructure; staff said the current draft largely follows the earlier chapter order but that reordering would be straightforward if the commission preferred. "We basically just kept the order the same as it was previously," staff said, adding changes could be made if members want to relocate chapters.

Commissioners also pressed staff on data recency for urban tree canopy, which the draft cites at about 35 percent. Staff said the canopy figures are an updated set compared with the previous plan but that they would confirm the exact year the dataset was produced. The same commissioner pointed to a graphic in the packet that indicates roughly 70 percent of the city's sewer pipes "are going to need to be replaced in the next 20 years," and asked whether overhead utility lines could be undergrounded when streets are rebuilt. Staff and commissioners discussed technical and funding constraints, noting coordination with Dominion and broadband providers is under way but that burying lines is costly and sometimes infeasible adjacent to certain high-pressure utilities.

Commissioners suggested several drafting fixes, including updating language about Moores Creek Dam to reflect recent activity and changing an icon on page 17 where a cornerstone graphic mixed milestone years; staff said the top of the page had been changed to 2045 but the icon still needed correction and staff would attempt to fix it. One commissioner proposed adding the words "a variety of" to a housing goal so it would read "to ensure a variety of safe, affordable, and desirable places to live," a phrasing fellow commissioners endorsed.

Staff said they will post comparisons and examples from surrounding jurisdictions and bring the draft back for further review ahead of the advertised public hearing. No formal vote on the comprehensive plan occurred at the meeting; the commission's next meeting is expected to include the public hearing on June 11.

The planning staff's webpage contains the packet, comments and links to example ordinances and master plans the commission asked to review prior to the next meeting.