Mayor tells Task Force about Lexington, Fayette County's needs for housing

Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton told the Kentucky Housing Task Force on Monday about Lexington and Fayette County's housing needs.

Gorton was unable to provide lawmakers with a clear number of units needed because the city is currently in the middle of a study to better understand local housing needs. However, she said there's definitely a need for housing—especially affordable housing.

“We believe we are short of housing, and that’s why we are putting a lot of our resources into affordable housing," Gorton said. "That is a huge need for us."

"We feel, in Lexington, we need to be working off of data and we want to know for sure what the study shows," she added.

However, Gorton emphasized that while the study is being conducted, Lexington is still investing in and building affordable housing. In 2014, the Urban County Government established Lexington's Affordable Housing Fund. Since then, more than $48 million has been invested locally. $430 million has also been leveraged from public and private sources to fund the construction and preservation of 3,504 subsidized affordable housing units.

Gorton also told lawmakers that the Urban County Council has voted to expand Lexington's urban service boundary to build additional housing.

Lexington's Planning Commission recommended a 2,800 acre expansion in five locations across Fayette County. The master plan calls for between 17,067 and 26,677 new units to be built, which would ultimately provide housing for between 59,000 and 78,000 residents.

The last time the Lexington urban service boundary was expanded was in 1996. The expansion included approximately about 5,300 acres. Of that, approximately 2,940 acres remains to be developed today.

Why haven't those acres been developed yet?

Gorton explained that it's a complex and expensive issue for Fayette County.

"There are two big things," said Gorton. "First of all, some of the landowners don't want to develop. A property owner needs to want to do that. Secondly, it's expensive to develop."

"It's very expensive to get the sewers, the roads, all the infrastructure out there," added Gorton. "It's police services. It's fire stations. It's everything imaginable to serve the area."