Several people attending a public meeting on Oct. 29 asked Planning Director Steve Hunter questions about proposed updates and new chapters in the Comprehensive Plan. The planning document includes a chapter on land use, but the sub-committee working on the updated plan has not begun reviewing that chapter yet, Hunter told those at last week’s meeting.
One of the charts in the Chapter II: Existing Conditions & Background Research update caught Hunter’s attention. The data for agriculture characteristics showed the number of farms in Woodford County had declined from 713 in 2012 to 688 in 2022. The data provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture also showed the acres of cropland declined from 41,963 in 2017 to 35,700 in 2022, and the number of horses sold in the county increased from 1,434 in 2017 to 2,181 in 2022.
Of about 25 people attending the first of three scheduled public meetings to discuss two updated chapters and two new chapters (economic development and housing) in the Comprehensive Plan, approximately half were elected or appointed officeholders, candidates for public office, or employees of the city, county or Planning Commission.
Stations and tables were set up around the meeting area in Versailles at The District pavilion. Small group and one-on-one discussions were encouraged after Hunter provided an overview of the proposed updated and new chapters in the Comprehensive Plan.
Kristin Ingwell-Goode, who told the Sun that she moved to Woodford County from Lexington in 2019, said she attended the meeting because “I’m continuing to get my head around different issues facing the county, both (about) the schools and land use issues.”
Ingwell-Goode said she originally came to Lexington because she worked in the horse industry.
“And so the entire region, and its access to green space and agricultural space is what brought me here,” she said. “What has kept me here is, in part, that quality of life it provides.”
So listening to Hunter talk about data showing the number of farms in Woodford County has declined is “absolutely” a concern, Ingwell-Goode said. “I’m also concerned about being realistic about what people can afford to live in our community…”
A new Housing Chapter shows about 30 percent (2,301) of Woodford County’s workforce live and work in the county, but the number of residents commuting to other counties for work has increased from 7,003 in 2018 to 7,083 in 2023, according to U.S. Census data.
Because a majority of the people who live in Woodford County work elsewhere and a majority of the people who work here, including teachers, police officers and other first responders, come from other counties, Hunter said traffic is increasing, and no one should be surprised that the state is planning to widen U.S. 60 East (Lexington Road) to six lanes to the Fayette County line.
Hunter cited housing costs and supply in Woodford County as drivers for people not living here when they work here.
A recently completed housing study, which supplied data for the new housing chapter, shows the median home value in Woodford County is projected to increase 11.6 percent, from $306,646 in 2025 to $346,834 in 2030. By 2030, Woodford County housing units valued under $250,000 are projected to decline by 956 units. The number of houses built in the last 10 years (2015 to 2025) is 997, which in a county of this size “is a lot,” Hunter said. More interesting, he pointed out, is that 351 of those new houses were built in the county. Only 12 houses were built in Midway, and 634 houses were built in Versailles, according to residential building permit data.
In response to one question about housing construction in the county, Hunter said about 1,700 housing units have been rezoned and are ready for construction, including 522 homes in the Paynes Crossing subdivision on Lexington Road.
Ingwell-Goode said it’s important to show up for meetings like this. Asked about her thoughts on the number of people who came to the meeting, she said, “I think it’s a lot easier to sit behind your computer and say uneducated things than to come to a meeting,” where she said you can ask questions and talk to elected and appointed officials as well as experts.
“So it’s much better,” she added, “to be there in person and ask questions yourself than assume things.”
Ingwell-Goode was having a conversation with Planning Commissioner Karen Isberg, who chairs the Comprehensive Plan sub-committee, before and after being interviewed by the Sun.
Isberg told the Sun that it’s important for people to attend these meetings so they can participate in the process and give their input. One person pointed out that an image on a wall for the meeting was labeled “Conservation Easements,” but also included acreage information and statistics about the Conservation District.
Isberg stressed that those are two different terms, with one being a land district and the other being an easement placed on the land to protect farmland from being developed. “I’m going to make a note to clarify that,” she said, which she added is another reason she would like to see more people attend and provide input at meetings like the one held last Thursday.
“This is what we want the public to do, is come and look at it,” said Isberg, so they can tell us when something doesn’t make sense or should be changed.
Two more meetings are coming up – tonight, Nov. 5, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Northside Elementary in Midway, and Saturday, Nov. 14, from 9 to 11 a.m. at Troy Presbyterian Church. The meetings will give people another opportunity to give input and ask questions about the new and updated chapters of the Comprehensive Plan.
The process of updating the 2018 Comprehensive Plan began in the spring of 2023 with a series of public meetings led by facilitators from the Kentucky League of Cities, Hunter told those attending last Thursday’s meeting.
After the goals and objectives were approved by the city and county governments in 2024, more meetings were held to get additional public feedback on other chapters in the plan, he said.
Hunter said a Comprehensive Plan is a policy document that provides a blueprint for the future for a community, but is not a law and is typically only used for zone change requests to determine if the zoning is appropriate.
A Comprehensive Plan is reviewed every five years, Hunter said, but an update is not required every five years under state law. He said plans that are done well can be 10-, 15-, 20- and 30-year planning documents for communities.