Group files lawsuit challenging Lexington’s urban services boundary expansion

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - A lawsuit filed on Friday alleges Lexington-Fayette council members did not follow state law in a recent vote.

In June, the council approved an expansion of the urban services boundary up to five thousand acres.

Now a group opposed to the expansion claims council set a bad precedent in doing so.

Joined by a group of Fayette County residents, the Fayette Alliance is suing the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council.

Fayette Alliance Executive Director Brittany Roethemeier says this is in hopes of stopping the recent vote to expand the city’s urban services boundary.

“Our ultimate goal for this community is that we can look back and say this is the research our decisions were based on. We followed these processes to make them because that’s also a precedent concern,” Roethemeier said.

The lawsuit alleges the council did not follow Kentucky’s state law on growth plans when it voted to allow development between 2,700 and 5,000 acres in the County.

Historically, the Planning Commission makes decisions on expansions. This time they did not recommend this growth. The lawsuit alleges this expansion is not based on “research, analysis, and projections,” as state law requires. And following the council’s vote, the Planning Commission is now tasked with deciding where the expansion should be and what kinds of developments can go where.

“We believe that there is enormous opportunity for our community to come together,” said Roethemeier. “For there to be research, data, community engagement, community buy-in, for a process to evaluate future growth decisions.”

When asked for comment, a city spokesperson told us they do not comment on open lawsuits.

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