LEXINGTON, Ky. — Members of Lexington’s Rural Land Management Board voiced strong reservations about large-scale solar installations on agricultural land during their February meeting, even as a draft zoning amendment that would allow such projects with a “dual use” provision advances through the Urban County Council’s committee process.
Councilmember Hil Boone, who sits on the council’s General Government and Planning Committee and attended the board’s Wednesday Zoom meeting, told members that the committee had voted 3-1 to include large-scale solar with a dual-use requirement in a draft Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment, or ZOTA. Boone said he cast the lone dissenting vote. Councilmember Liz Sheehan, who chairs the committee, plans to bring the revised language back to GGP on March 10 and hopes to move it to a full council work session the same day, Boone said.
“I think there’s still some details to work out of what that language actually looks like and means,” said Olivia Grigsby, legislative aide for Boone, who added that the board would have an opportunity to formally review the amendment before it reaches the full council. The measure would also go before the Planning Commission.
Board Chair Gloria and several members made clear that the panel’s federal conservation easements already prohibit commercial solar, permitting panels only for a landowner’s personal use and encouraging rooftop installations over ground-mounted arrays. Phil Meyer, a board member, said bluntly that the county should exhaust urban options first. Board member Robert James and others noted that ground-mounted solar panels are incompatible with the large equipment needed for row crops and problematic for livestock operations.
Boone told the board he had inserted a brownfield exception into the draft ZOTA to encourage solar development on sites like the Haley Pike Landfill, a roughly 350-acre tract the board has previously flagged as a suitable alternative to prime farmland.
The board also moved aggressively on new land acquisitions during the meeting, entering a closed session at 3:25 p.m. to discuss potential property purchases. After returning to open session roughly 20 minutes later, members unanimously authorized purchase offers on four small farms — designated as small farms 7-2025, 15-2025, 16-2025 and 37-2025 — and approved appraisals for two additional properties, small farm 1-2025 and PDR farm 1-2025. Chair Gloria noted the pace of acquisitions reflected both the board’s progress in spending allocated funds and the cooperation of appraisers, who have provided a reduced rate for smaller properties.
In a sign of deepening federal engagement with the county’s nationally recognized farmland preservation program, three officials from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service appeared at the meeting for the first time. Eric Ollis, the state conservationist for Kentucky, called Fayette County’s program “a signature project in the nation” and said NRCS would like to send a representative as a recurring, non-voting participant in future meetings. Brian Jones, the agency’s assistant state conservationist for easements, and Matt Hutchinson, a longtime federal partner who recently returned to the Kentucky team, also attended.
Jones reported that Kentucky American Water had decided to reroute a planned water line that would have cut into Foxtrot, the board’s landmark 1,000-acre federal conservation easement. After NRCS staff conducted a site visit and outlined the federal requirements the utility would face, Kentucky American Water chose to modify its project design to avoid the easement entirely.
On routine infrastructure matters, the board unanimously approved two requests from landowners on easement-protected farms. Pete Christensen, who purchased a 59-acre tract on Hume Bedford Pike last year with plans to operate a horse farm, received approval to build a 1,652-square-foot combination garage and farm office as an accessory to an existing tenant house. Patrick Higginbotham won approval to demolish and replace an aging tenant house on his 104-acre farm on Military Pike with a slightly smaller structure of approximately 1,564 square feet. Staff recommended approval for both requests, finding them consistent with easement terms.
Treasurer Phil Meyer reported that four appraisal invoices of $2,500 each from Kenimer Appraisals had been paid, corresponding to the farms for which offers were authorized.
Board member Jim Coleman highlighted the upcoming Kentucky Black Farmers Association meeting on March 6-7, and James noted the Fayette County Farm Bureau’s annual auction on March 14 at the Kentucky Horse Park.
The board’s next meeting is scheduled for March 25 at 3 p.m. via Zoom. Councilmember Tyler Morton, the council liaison to the board, was absent due to a scheduling conflict. The board, which oversees Lexington’s rural service area and more than 33,000 acres of preserved farmland, is working toward a goal of 50,000 protected acres.
