Lexington rejects bid to subdivide large farm on Tates Creek Road. ‘We can do better’

A Fayette County planning body has rejected a request to subdivide a 144-acre farm near the Jessamine County border into 13 smaller lots.

The Urban County Planning Commission voted unanimously Thursday to turn down a zone change for the property at 8200 Tates Creek Road from an agricultural zone to an agricultural buffer zone.

The zone change would have allowed the family that owns the property, the Kurt R. Volk Trust, to subdivide the property into 13 different tracts ranging from 10 to 19.5 acres. The property is also bordered by Spears Road, a narrow two-lane road.

Many commission members said Thursday they were uncomfortable carving up agricultural land into small, 10-acre tracts. The city’s comprehensive plan, which guides development, stresses the protection of farmland, they argued.

It is the second farm in the past two months to seek approval to subdivide property for housing. In early July, the planning commission allowed Castleton Lyons, a horse farm with a storied history, to be subdivided into 16 lots that could also be sold for housing.

But the minimum lot size for that farm was 40 acres — the minimum lot size for the agricultural zone.

No immediate plans to develop

The Tates Creek farm is outside the urban service boundary, where city services end and larger farms begin.

The 2017 Rural Land Management Plan, which guides development outside the urban service boundary, recommended the area in which the farm is located be an agricultural buffer zone — the change the family sought.

In that type of area, lot sizes can be smaller: a minimum of 10 acres for a buffer zone, compared with a minimum of 40 acres for an agricultural zone.

Many of the lots surrounding the farm on Tates Creek are already smaller than 40 acres and were developed before the land management plan was adopted, said Daniel Crum, senior planner for the city.

And Nick Nicholson, a lawyer for the owners, said the attempted rezoning is not for an “imminent development.”

The family instead wants to subdivide the farm so they can someday sell pieces.

“This is more about estate planning,” Nicholson said.

Frank Penn, a former planning commission member and a Rural Land Management Board member, urged the commission not to pass the zone change. Penn said he thought the zone change was a way to get around the 40-acre minimum rule.

“There’s no reason to buffer against Jessamine County,” Penn said. “Ten-acre lots are too small to grow and too large to mow.”

Planning commission rejects request

In the late 1990s, the city put a moratorium on subdividing agricultural land into 10-acre tracts after thousands of acres of agricultural land was subdivided but provided limited housing. In 1999, the city set a 40-acre minimum limit for the agriculture zone to stop the loss of prime farmland.

Several planning commission members said Thursday they were hesitant to allow the Tates Creek property to be subdivided.

“Continuing to divide 10-acre lots is not intuitive,” said Planning Commission member Robin Michler. Michler said the comprehensive plan, which guides development, urges the protection of the rural area for agricultural uses.

Crum, the senior planner, noted the comprehensive plan says the planning commission must follow the Rural Land Management Plan, which recommends the property be an agricultural buffer zone.

“It doesn’t say it needs to happen,” said Judy Worth, a commission member. “That is not an area that is developing. We are talking about an area that does not need buffering.”

Mike Owens said he, too, was conflicted. He said he’s also concerned about access to the subdivided lots.

“I’m very concerned about Spears Road,” Owens said. “I think we can do better.”