When Marketing Can Sacrifice Public Safety

I was talking to an infrequent reader the other day and she told me that the subjects of my quiz photos are often too difficult for her. I really do understand this but I just want to get some dialogue going. In the last quiz we can clearly see the beginnings of Todds Trace Apartments and the final interchange of New Circle Road being built in the late '60s.

It was on this same interchange ramp that I commented to Mrs. Sweeper, while we were out running errands, that the renovation of the apartments was looking quite good. Having watched the work on the old Sonnet Cove, now Lakewood Park, I know how much it has helped the neighborhood. I have posted earlier about how the Southland Christian Church should have taken this location and begun the transformation of the area not only physically, but spiritually. Alas, that did not happen.

Over the years, I have known friends and acquaintances who have lived in the varying iterations of the complex. From Todds Trace to Appletree and Saddlebrook (or as it became called, Saddle-dump) on down to its Pennington Place demise. The apartments and the neighborhood have not aged well. In my opinion, few of the developments done during the late '60s through mid-to-late '70s have fared well at all, if any.

Still, the renovation work does look good and Mrs. Sweeper and I have been discussing moving, now that our guys have graduated high school, entered college and we don't need to be within walking distance of Henry Clay. It was suggested that I take a look at the 300 At The Circle since the location is still close to work and the transit lines. Maybe we could stay there until we found a better house.

The web site  is beautiful, but most marketing web sites are well done to get you to look closer. What caught my eye was the mailing address of the apartments, 300 Quinton Ct. Could that be right? Quinton Court was the name given to the section of the Todds Road that had to be truncated when the KYDOT began upgrading Richmond Road nearly 30 years ago. Quinton Ct is a short cul-de-sac which basically serves one office building and back side entry of a restaurant.

I was also quite confused since the office building, on the east side of the road, is addressed as 120 Quinton and the apartments, on the other side of the street, is labeled as 300. I didn't think that it was possible to have even numbers on opposite sides of the same street. It certainly does not follow any type of local or national norm.

In 1902 the City of Lexington implemented a new addressing scheme which, among other things, established that even numbers be located on the South and East sides of streets and thoroughfares. Odd number would be on the North and West. It is simpler to do on a grid, or a modified grid, pattern of streets which was typical at the time. On curvilinear streets, it all stems from its beginning point and its general, overall direction. Roads like New Circle will play pure havoc with that rule.

During the past decade or so, Lexington has systemically attempted to correct any anomalies which may have developed between the former city and county governments and some just plain quirkiness out of the past. The stated intent was to aid the Enhanced 911 emergency response times. 300 Quinton Ct looks to be a new quirk.

Once again looking to the website, the page which directs you to apply and choose your desired apartment shows all of the access driveways connecting to Codell Dr and no possible access from Quinton Ct. The main entry to the clubhouse and pool area appears to be a security check point and come in off of Codell Dr. It is entirely possible that an access point can be created on the court, but that does not appear to be their intention. A quick look at the PVA site reveals an account for 109 Quinton Ct which correlates to the “Future Development” portion of their site plan. There appears to be NO official record of a 300 Quinton Ct in Fayette County records.

But wait, again the Internet to the rescue, on the page showing the location of the development is a link to Google Maps and the app to get directions. Google Maps does have 300 Quinton Ct but the source their data from many places. It is also ironic that Google will give you the Streetview of the area but the photos are nearly 2 years old and this property is not very appealing in those images.

It should be fairly obvious to all that the intent of this development's address is to remove any identity connection to Codell Dr as that street name carries much baggage. We have seen this in other sections of town in the past. In an effort to change the perceptions of possible tenants, Jennifer Ct was renamed to Eastwyck Ct and then renamed again to Meade Ct about 20 years ago. I don't think that the general impressions of that area have changed all that much. Making real change in a neighborhood takes much more than some slick marketing moves and I think that the church had the better shot at real change.

It may be that this is just a slick marketing ploy but the weak effort displayed by the website falls far short of the mark. If I have to do some sort of mental gymnastics to find the front door, be I a pizza delivery person or a visitor from out-of-town, then the thought of having a logical, standardized system is out the window. Will this also be necessary of first responders to the point of making it an issue of public safety?

I think I will have to tell Mrs. Sweeper that, as nice as it looks, to seek some other place. I think that she will agree.

Last Week's Photo

Did anybody realize that I missed the weekly photo contest last week?  Good , neither did I.

On that note, I only got one comment on the photo of the completion of New Circle Rd.  The bridge construction in the lower left corner is the last bridge to be built on this 19.6 mile ring of Lexington.

On the right hand side you can see the initial construction of the Todds Trace Apartments which are currently undergoing a complete remodeling. The will soon reopen as the 300's on the Circle. Just above that is the newly built Woodhill Dr and beyond is its twin, Palumbo Dr. The Wood shopping center is not yet underway. One can barely make out the railroad overpass in the distance.

Of course, that means that the water body is the site of the current Home Depot and the remodeled Lexington Mall, now Southland Church. Is it any wonder that the parking lot kept sinking around the mall.

In the top center of the photo is the Idle Hour Park with all of its ball fields and no hint of the auto dealers on New Circle. Behind that and fading off into the distance is the Idle Hour subdivision.

So how many of them did you get?
 
 







This week I have two photos, taken from both side of an area. What I am looking for this time is: What prominent historical feature lies between these two photos?

Good luck.

Lexington Mall, Idle Hour And Other News

I have been keeping an eye on the church construction on the former Lexington Mall site and even before the Herald-Leader article noticed a slow-down in the progress toward enclosing the new building. The demolition company had removed their equipment but uncharacteristicly left large piles of the pulverized concrete material in place. The pace of progress made no sense since we have had such a mild winter season so far. I also was not surprised when I saw the latest revision of their development plan several weeks ago. For a location which apparently had failed to support retail uses and had to be used for a church, the increased size and purpose of the outlots could mean only one thing – the costs were definitely rising.

I don't like the whole concept of what they are doing on that project but there is little that I can do about it now. A large edifice surrounded by a sea of parking and the runoff flowing directly across the street from our back-up water supply. Now we are adding a drive in bank and a drive-thru fast food place, which they hope will do well. This has been a fairly dead commercial stretch lately and just about anything would be an improvement.

Speaking of improvements, the whole Idle Hour Shopping Center has undergone a sprucing up in the past few years and it is not finished yet. @GossipGirl 40502 tweeted me the other day about the activity in the old Walgreen's location and hinted at a new restaurant coming there. Well it is true. The site is being prepared for a place called Papacina's, but it is not going in the old building, it is replacing the old building.

Those of us familiar with the Idle Hour area will usually think of the restaurants which have dotted the place since the mid-60's, both in the mall and the shopping center. Most of them have been the typical dash and grab sites, although Durango's is one of the better sit-down establishments around.

A year or so ago, the property owners began talking of a stand-alone building replacing part of the old Walgreen's and Raising Cane's was tossed about, but the parking and drive-thru details could not be worked out. Now we look to have a solution in hand.

Think of a building like Sal's or Malone's but free standing out in the parking lot. Not my favorite style of building and not what I would like to see in a “walkable” neighborhood. When, oh when will we change our development standards to force the B-1 zone to put the building on the sidewalk and hide the parking in the rear?

Maybe the one effect that the church has had on the area is that more people are looking at the potential along Richmond Rd. inside the Circle.

The Property That Southland Didn't Take

I heard today of another investigation into the possible uses of the old Todd's Trace Apartments, or what is now known as the Pennington Place dump.  This would make about the fifth time that someone has asked about the property and what could be done to redevelop it.

Since it has been basically abandoned for several years now, all the apartments have been broken into and at least two complete buildings destroyed by fire, there is no way that it could be rehabbed and the only solution is to start with a clean slate.

I have given my thoughts on how the area should have been redeveloped when I wrote this back in January.  Unfortunately the church is proceeding with its plan and there is not another large religious entity set to do something similar.  I also do not want another large piece of tax revenue generating property to be designated as tax-free as long as our city needs the funds as the do.  No, somebody rally has to make this a viable development for both the city's and their sake.

What makes this so tough to work with is the lack of easy access to the major roadways.  I still think that, at some point, the dependance on the personal automobile will be removed and since this location is at the intersection of two main roads and it is a straight shot to downtown, some sort of mass transit will suffice for most new urbanists who may live that far out.

Still, today's urban developers are not that forward looking and a quicker access is desired in order to work a deal. The property is hemmed in by two, less than stellar areas, the business along Woodhill and the declining neighborhood of duplexes and townhomes with a growing reputation for crime, and a successful shopping area on Richmond Rd. Residential, and especially up-scale residential, without a different orientation and access would be a hard sell in this location.

So many of late seem to think that the current design process for the CentrePointe block will bring about a winning solution and a certain Herald-Leader columnist and blogger believes that we should apply a similar  one to the Lexington Center redesign, so should we get the mayor involved and do something here?  How about some suggestions from you, my readers. 

What would you place in this difficult redevelopment area?  Remember, the church took a similar sized chunk of apparently unneeded commercial land so a shopping center may not be viewed as possible.  The French Quarter hotel works, but do we need another series of lodging units, either extended stay or otherwise?  Give me your ideas and I will post them and send them on to the mayor.

Time To Set Some Goals

The Planning staff has proposed and the Planning Commission, along with the Mayor and a large part of the Urban County Council, has agreed that maybe we have many more items to think about than just continuing to expand the urban growth boundary. So, that largest part of the process is out of the way...right? I don't think so and neither should you.

To a majority of the general public, the Comprehensive Plan is merely some pretty colors on a map and some generalized statements about the intentions to get, what might be called, progress down the road. The Plan is more than this but so often it involves decisions on what can be done in the newer “greenfield” areas and “stabilizing” the existing (possibly declining) neighborhoods while leaving all else in a holding pattern of “status quo”. This time around I hope that the concentrations will be on things other than spreading growth and keeping what we have. Lets try to actually determine what is the best use of our urban landscape.

The phrase “highest and best use” is often thrown about as what is desired for any particular piece of property, yet that usually means something different to different people, commonly influenced by the level of involvement or ownership in said property. Sometimes the highest use and the best use are diametrically opposed to each other and can be viewed in reverse depending on your desires for the overall community.

CentrePointe and the old Lexington Mall property, two of my favorite subjects, are prime examples of how we can see thing differently.

The CentrePointe block, as has often been said, occupies the very center of Lexington and many would have you believe that a smattering of buildings, none more than four stories, and housing uses which waxed and waned on an a variably, oscillating schedule so as to usually be out of sync with each other. Rarely would one use feed off another to the benefit of all for both the daytime and nighttime or after hours schedules. What some called the best uses were far from the highest uses and even the proposal, as a highest use, was criticized for not being the best use.

The former Lexington Mall, built on a filled in portion of the original water company reservoir, started off as a somewhat regional shopping destination and then fell upon harder times as the retail world (and the fickle consumers) marched off to bigger and better things. Thirty years and minimal updating will do a number on buildings, just ask the Lexington Center folks. What may have been the highest use for the property soon became not and maybe an auto-centric religious use will end up not being the best use in a post carbon transit world.

These are but two examples of what situations currently exist throughout Fayette County, from the underutilized parcels of abandoned apartment complexes and former roadside motels to the maze like subdivisions full of cul-de-sacs which limit walkability and provision of efficient public service. How would one propose to bring the highest and best uses to these areas? Should we alter the uses or the way that these uses are exhibited? These are the questions that I think should be answered and planned for. Leaving the status quo should not be an option.

Proposing wholesale changes for large underutilized properties or existing residential neighborhoods is NOT the way the Planning Commission has worked from its inception. For nearly 85 years the commission and staff have fielded proposals from property owners and developers to approve or deny as they see fit. Still, the general impression of the public is that the staff has directed (and placed) the wrong uses in some very wrong locations, while others are angry and confused when they are denied uses that they feel are very legitimate. As I said before it is perspective.

Will this be another NEW way of doing planning? Will we see walkability brought to our outer suburbs or will we see the suburban style redevelopment of our currently walkable neighborhoods? Will we see more single child (or less) households or will we see more multi-generational housing units? We are now seeing home ownership rates declining and that will probably not go back up any time soon, if ever. Newer home buyers are looking for smaller units in walkable areas, so what will become of the larger houses on ½ acre or ¼ acre lots? Where will these folks walk to in the sprawling cul-de-sac neighborhoods that we have now? This is the year that we need to ask these and other harder questions. This is also the year that we should get some answers to these questions.

Today the Council's Planning and Zoning Committee heard a presentation about the upcoming goals and objectives which should be coming from the Planning Commission by the end of the summer. Both the Council and the Commission need to hear from the public and not just the typical “movers and shakers” of the past. The LFUCG Planning page has recently added an email link just for this purpose. Do not hesitate to let them know how you feel on any of these topics and let me know how you feel too.

Lexington Mall, Is Something Happening?

Last night, WKYT (channel 27) led off the late news with a story that was supposed to detail the latest in the chain of events relating to Lexington Mall. Their implication was that something was afoot.

The TV station had this to say about the abandoned mall.

In a statement given to 27 Newsfirst, a spokesperson for Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry says, "We are aware that there have been serious conversations between private interests and Saul Centers Properties, which owns the site. But we have not been advised as to what plans those private interests might have for the property."

Now, while I was aware of a scheduled mayoral forum for last night, I assumed that this was released in that venue. No other news outlet had anything to say about it and WKYT only had a statement form a spokesperson. Next I realized that the interviews with neighbors was done earlier in the day, so this was somewhat like a press release. Still nobody else said a word. Could this be manufactured news? At the end of the piece, the reporter summed it up with the fact that really nothing has changed and the neighbors are just as baffled and upset as they have been.

This morning they had a repeat of the story and added nothing, but the anchor crew kept emphasizing that the word came from Mayor NEWBERRY"S office. Not the administration, or the mayor's office, but Mayor NEWBERRY"S office. I began to think that this could be a subtle hint of an endorsement for the incumbent and a way to get some more talking points into Mr Gray's stump speeches. Still, no other news was talking about it. So, is this just somebody blowing smoke, ala the campaign of 4 years ago?

Simply checking the Saul Centers website showed that they have just this one property in Kentucky and it is being advertised for sale, although the page has not been updated since last July. Lexington is a far piece from the rest of their holdings and the commercial real estate market has seen better days, but Business Lexington today has an article that Lexington is faring better than the rest of the country.

Lastly, rumor has it that the statement is very true. Read what it says carefully. "Serious conversations" (plural) and "private interests" (again plural) and "Saul Centers Properties" (surprisingly singular). I'm guessing that there is more than one interested party. The rumor also goes that a deal is close, as close as settling on final price and the method of financing. Should this occur during the run-up to the primary it would put a nice feather in Newberry's hat in the ring.

"But we have not been advised as to what plans those private interests might have for the property."

Of course not. Just having an idea who the interested parties will indicate what their plans will consist of. We do know that they are not any tax supported entity like the city or a state agency.

I guess time will tell.

Anothers Weeks Lack of Progress

Well, it has been another week and there has been no progress at all. It is still ugly and hard to look at. The construction fence is still up and there are no signs of anybody preparing to work anytime soon. Thousands of people pass by on these road every day and look over to see ugly sights. What do our visitors think about Lexington's future when they see this lack of progress?

One could think that I am speaking of CentrePointe and its ongoing debate. They would be WRONG.

I wish that someone would call the owners of Lexington Mall, the partially demolished Continental Inn, the apartments formerly known and built as Todds Trace, the Turfland Mall shell and a few others to account for their lack of movement on redeveloping their properties.

How much money have these people taken out of Lexington's economy in the last several years by their inaction? The employment taxes of the jobs lost would offset the deficit in the Public Safety budget for this year. The business and sales taxes would help both the State and the City, yet nobody is crying about these travesties.

Why hasn't the Urban Council complained about these eyesores as well as their well published rants and grandstanding of CentrePointe. A former Mayor, in her re-election bid, had some suggestions for the Lexington Mall site but was shot down, and here it is over two years later and still nothing. The neighbors complained about the former Continental Inn site and yet nothing has been done about it. Several of the buildings of the apartment complex have been burned and nothing is being done. The Turfland Mall interior has been closed since late last year and nobody seem to have a problem with that.

There are other, smaller locations that have much the same issues that need to be dealt with but these are the major sites that the Council and the administration should demand that something be done.

Lexington Developments--Feb 2009

For those of you who follow my postings on Skyscraper City this may be nothing new, but I hope to give a little background for this weeks developments.

First off, there is the progress around the Medical Center ,and this time it's private money. The property between the Shell station and the new parking garage will soon break ground for a seven story hotel. I've been told that it will be Hampton Inn and the latest plan shows awnings or canopies protruding over the sidewalk, like they want to do a sidewalk style dining area.

This development is much different from that proposed many years ago. The first proposal for this site was dated Jan. 12, 1967. At that time they called it White Towers because the proposal was for two apartment towers of 9 floors each, above a parking structure which would cover the entire block. The engineering firm of Proctor, Davis & Ray owned and occupied the light colored building to the right of the photo above, had options to purchase the rest of the block and prepared the plans.

P,D & R's primary field was water and sewer projects with some aviation work and the project languished. They applied for and received their R-5 zoning, but I guess the options expired and others started acquiring the small residential lots. The Medical School students needed inexpensive apartments close to the hospital and between the Walton brothers and Henry Cravens that need was met.

When the University began accumulating property in the area, a revised plan for more of a mixed use project was brought forward. It is theorized that, with an approved plan in place, the owners could maximize their asking price in case of a condemnation by UK. Simultaneously, the need has grown for lodging of families of non-local patients under long term care. This latest plan will now apparently fill a portion of that need. Oddly enough, there was a small motel on the block now occupied by the Kentucky Clinic and Nursing School back in '67.


The other new announcement today was about the Downtown enhancements for the Farmers market and the Streetscape proposals. The images above show just the type of structure I would like to see and is what I had in mind when I posted about a possible entertainment district along Short St between Mill and Cheapside. A light, airy covering of late 1800's style and although this covers Cheapside and not Short, it will fulfill the idea. The possibility of using it for many other functions and events is really a plus. The rendering also seems to show that the Breckenridge statue will be moved toward Main St. and some more public artwork added(also topics of earlier blog posts). The addition of an "art style" bus stop would complete the trifecta.

Some comments on the Herald-Leader web site have called this a waste of money and suggest that it be better suited for the Lexington Mall location. Are these the same folk that raked former Mayor Issac about her foray into a condemnation of said mall and now chastise the current Mayor for not doing the same? Are they the same folk who complain the downtown is not vibrant and will not spend any effort to make it so? Some downtown decisions of the past have been shown to be less than useful and some just plain mistakes. Please, let us learn from those mistakes and move forward but not so rapidly as to make even larger mistakes.

With all the effort looking toward the streetscapes, I would hope that they don't forget the new emphasis on railed transit by the current Federal administration and at least contemplate a possible future rail tram in the downtown area.

Hopefully this next year will find downtown a mess with new building projects galore.

Streetcars for redevelopment

Several things have come to mind in the past few days.

First, the thought that a streetcar/light rail system could help pull Lexington and the rest of the nation out of the economic quagmire in which we find ourselves. Surely not, you say.

No. Not by itself. Not as a single effort. But as an essential cog of a larger effort, yes I think it can. It can not be a limited system serving a small section of downtown, but as a city-wide system reaching all the far-flung sections of population and destinations. It should be centered on the downtown, but not as a cross-hair or central station concept, but as an encircler of the business core. Think of the Ringstrasse and substitute the streetcar for the driving lanes. These would circle downtown about one or two blocks off Main and Vine Sts. That would mean Second or Third on the north, High or Maxwell on the south, the new Newtown extension on the west and a combination of Ashland, Walton or Midland etc. on the east.

Two streetcars, one running clockwise and the other running counter-clockwise would circle the downtown on a regular basis. Now, add to this a series of outward circles of routes. For example, a route running out Richmond Rd to New Circle Rd., around New Circle to Liberty and back in to Winchester Rd/Third St. and in to join the ring around town until reaching Main/Richmond and heading out again. Other similar ring routes would progress around the city, the outbound leg using the previous routes inbound leg, providing two way traffic on all inbound/outbound legs of all routes. Ideally no one should be more than three blocks or so from a streetcar line. Another set of ring routes would continue outside of New Circle Rd, at reasonable distances, until the urban area is covered. Some south-side areas may need to have a series of smaller ring or figure eight loops arranged in order to fully cover the residential areas.

This would be no small feat to accomplish and would need the backing of the Federal government, but if we subsidized transit the way we do roadways it is do-able. President-elect Obama has indicated that his administration will encourage and fund more mass transit projects.

Secondly, with systems similar to this in other cities and states, the steel industry, which has seen orders fall sharply lately, would be called on to supply the rails and rolled steel for car bodies and wheel sets. The auto makers by retooling to produce streetcars could be inundated with orders. The power companies would have to upgrade the entire statewide power grid in order to supply the electricity. New pylons and towers with wires and cables again helping the steel industry. More power generating capacity and distribution will require more design and production personnel. We have one of the premier rail service companies in the US in our own backyard, right down Nicholasville Rd, in the R.J. Corman Co. All of this means jobs.

Thirdly, and last, where two or more of these ring routes meet, there is the possibility of transit related development (TOD) . Some of these sites are already in decline or dead (i.e. Lexington Mall, Turfland Mall). Retail redevelopment of a mall site would not normally constitute a TOD, but adding some New Urbanist elements or large amounts of residential and deleting the auto centric design features similar to this Natick Mass. mall could revitalize some of our recognized underutilized property.

As big as this proposal sounds, it is just a first blush glance at how Lexington and a streetcar system could help lead an economic stimulus for the whole nation. Does anyone want to help flesh this thing out? Help push this to the powers that be?

Give me some feed back.

Richmond Rd and New Circle Rd TIF?

I have posted about the Lexington Mall property in the past (read it here) and I continue to hear of the local leaders attempts to do something about it. Then, the last Board of Adjustment meeting heard a case concerning the former Continental Inn property and the inappropriate use of storing truck trailers. Both of these properties were once sites of very popular enterprises and the destinations of many local shopping or entertainment trips. Both of these properties fell on hard times either from the failure to keep up with the times, by modernizing the facilities, or the uses of the facilities. These properties were in such decline, and in such prominent locations that they gained the attention of the LFUCG's Underutilized Property survey team.

The map of the surveyed properties (a portion of which is shown above) may be found here and a description of the ranking system here. I have a few questions about the accuracy of this map, mostly about property in the outer growth areas, but also some in the ring of properties adjacent to New Circle Rd. This "ring" contains a bulk of the developments built in the wave of expansion after World War II that ranged from 1948 -1970. The time 22 year span ('48 -'70) corresponds to the time it took to complete New Circle Rd.

A goodly number of developments built in conjunction with or because of New Circle have had to modify how and with whom they do business. The two drive-in theaters, that built "out in the country" but with good access, have been redeveloped into other retail/wholesale businesses and the shopping centers (Eastland, South Park, North Park...) , that used to be the first thing you came to upon entering Lexington, have had to reorient themselves to a more local trade or die.

There are a number of other properties currently in the stages of redevelopment along the New Circle Rd corridor. These being

• The Lexus of Lexington parcel
• The rebuild of Parkette
• Several parcels around the Eastland center
• The continuing progress of the block from Bryan Station to North Limestone (Goo Goo Car Wash, the Bryan Station Inn, the revamped gas stations and the up coming move of the CVS to the corner at N Lime)
• The redo of the old Best Western into a brand new Candlewood Inn

Others properties outside this corridor but of the same time frame include the Turfland Mall, Gardenside Center, Cardinal Valley Center and the Springs Inn. Any of these could find themselves of the underutilized map very quickly.

Turfland Mall and Lexington Mall have a great many similarities. Both were built in the late'60s, both were anchored by McAlpin's and another large retailer, both had the other retailer replaced by Home Depot, both have had major drainage problems and both have had the higher end residential, that they relied on, continue to move further out the road.

All the foregoing have been commercial properties, but there are also some residential property that has fallen to underutilized status in the Richmond Rd/New Circle area. One of these is the, now closed, English Manor Apartments(built as Todds Trace Apartments). Three parcels of land comprising approximately 20 acres, 400+ units, purchased for $11.1 million in 2005 and not one of those units occupied for almost a year. Housing for roughly 1,000 people at a point which cold become a primary TOD spot.

So, we see some shortcomings of the underutilized property information and the missed redevelopment opportunities at just one major intersection. Approximately 40 acres of unused land worth well over the assessed $20 million. Why would this area not qualify for a TIF area?

Vexington Mall question

from Business Lexington


In the latest Business Lexington (Nov 13 2008), their lead article is about Lexington Mall and the problems that have transpired over the last 30 years. It is a nice read and brought back many memories for me. While their explanation of the history of the owners, stores and tenants along with the conflicts between them differ from my own recollections, I feel that they have done their usual fine research and I have not.

Much has been made of the legal wrangling of the past ten or so years and the developers and the politicians have spoken (or not spoken) loudly about what will happen here. Everyone has an opinion and the ones posted on the Business Lexington site run from inane to "why would they do that?". It seems that everyone wants the politicians to do something about it. The one group not being asked are the planners.

Yes, the planners. You know that group of professionals that we pay to figure out these kind of things. The ones that you complain about, when the politicians allow or prevent your favored development to occur/from occurring. The guys that we rail against when the road is congested to the max, because the funds aren't provided to improve the road. They are the professional staff who should propose uses or concepts designed to allow the highest and best use of Lexington's limited urban area. They, have not been asked to do anything for this eyesore yet.

I am beginning to feel that the reason that the planners have not been involved, is that for the last 35-40 years, Lexington has taken a hands off approach to driving developments to completion. It may have started after the Urban Renewal phase that the country went through in the 60's. Grandiose plans were prepared, properties bought, historic buildings razed, railroad tracks removed, new roadways built and... we handed it over to the private developer. Not just downtown, everywhere in the city. This was a time of good growth, a booming economy and booming population.

The small planning staff of the day could barely keep up with the caseload and the good planners went on to bigger cities while the others used their experience to get better jobs in the private sector. A somewhat rapid turnover in staff allowed the administrations of the 70's, 80's and 90's to continue to let the developer make the proposals and the staff make their recommendations for or against. The staff still had the charge of preparing a long range plan, but there were no grand proposals or sweeping (I love that word)changes in direction for any part of town. Any major changes in the plans usually were (are) coming from some others plans.

One solution that I would like to see is Commerce Lexington and the local economic development director working with the planning staff to propose new projects and not with the political spoils to local developers/planning firms. Waiting for the owner/developer in this case and others around town has not worked to anyone's satisfaction so far. Its going on six or seven years now, how much longer can we wait.