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Organizational Input The Division of Planning broadcasted an open invitation for agencies and special interest groups to sign up for a time slot the week of March 21, 2022 to meet with staff. We requested feedback on the Goals and Objectives portion of the plan. It was explained that feedback will be used to update the Goals and Objectives that will be crafted by the Planning Commission over the summer and presented to the Urban County Council for adoption later this year. Ten organizations provided input and a summary of each follows.
Pensacola Park Meeting Summary On March 21st, 2022, Planning Staff met with representatives from the Pensacola Park neighborhood to discuss transportation related issues identified in the Imagine Nicholasville Road corridor study. The corridor study called for encouraging development that would support future mass transit improvements through Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) infrastructure. The neighborhood members provided materials to document the harm that single occupancy motor vehicles are having on the environment and their cost to the local economy compared to improved mass transit options. They point out that the significant growth of the region will only continue to exacerbate our congestion issues. They provided a brief history on the rise and subsequent demise of the Lexington streetcar system and calling for a return of a similar scaled light rail project for the Nicholasville Road corridor. The group provided a list of potential funding sources and evidence from the federal government of emerging policies supporting mass transit improvements in cities. In closing, the group shared a top 10 university cities ranging from 50,000 to under 1,000,000 residents that have significantly higher per capita transit ridership to indicate that there is significant potential for a shift in the transit habits of Lexington residents. They shared that there is a significant return on investment for communities that choose to invest in mass transit and that Lexington to be well served to do the same.
Community Ventures Meeting Summary On March 22nd, 2022, Planning staff met with representatives of Community Ventures. They described the mission of Community Ventures within the communities they work in. They have focused their efforts in Lexington on the East End, trying to support a neighborhood that
