Committee approves recommendation and refers Hamburg Place plan to planning commission after staff conditions

The Lexington City Subdivision Committee forwarded PLN MJDP 25-39 (Hamburg Place, Outlots 5 and 6) to the full planning commission with staff-recommended conditions after the applicant and staff described the proposed change: removal of a conditional zoning restriction that caps gross buildable area at approximately 532,000 square feet for the larger Hamburg Place development.

Staff planner Stan (title not specified) summarized the revised plan and a list of "requirements not met," including interior landscape areas, dumpster enclosure location for Outlot 6, labeling the center line of a stream in the Greenway, tree-inventory and preservation exhibits, slope/building limits, and internal pedestrian walkways. The technical review committee recommended approval provided the urban-county council approves removal of the conditional zoning restriction and the applicant corrects the noted deficiencies.

Nick Nicholson, representing War Admiral Place (the applicant), said the conceptual buildings shown on the plan are placeholders used to demonstrate the development potential blocked by the existing restriction. He said the two shown buildings total roughly 20,000 square feet combined (a roughly 4,600-square-foot single-story retail building on Outlot 5 and a roughly 15,000-square-foot three-story retail/office building on Outlot 6). Nicholson said the developer cannot market or submit final plans for the outparcels while the restriction remains.

Engineer Matt Carter, appearing for the applicant, noted that many technical items shown on the preliminary plan (for example, dumpsters and some landscape exhibit details) are not typically provided at preliminary stage submittals; he said the team will provide a tree inventory, LaDAR-derived contours to update topography, and conform the plan to Article 18 landscape requirements and Article 16 pedestrian-walkway rules at later stages. Carter also noted a design caution for placing fill near an existing sanitary sewer line on Outlot 6; engineering staff asked the applicant to follow specific pipe-protection and material requirements at final plan.

Committee members asked how the 532,000-square-foot cap was originally adopted; staff said the cap was imposed at a 2004 rezoning to limit retail intensity so the site would conform to the comprehensive plan's intent for interchange-adjacent parcels. Several members observed that changes to the B-6P zoning district and modern planning priorities for higher floor-area ratios make the cap restrictive today. Staff and the applicant agreed that any future work within the Walmart or Lowe's parking areas or other outlots would require a subsequent preliminary or final development plan and appropriate public-review steps.

The committee voted on a motion to refer the Hamburg Place plan and to approve it to move forward with the seven technical recommendations; the motion carried unanimously.

Next steps: the applicant will update the preliminary plan with requested exhibits (tree inventory, updated contours), address the "requirements not met" items and present at the full planning commission public hearing for the zone-change and conditional-restriction removal. Final development activity on Outlots 5 and 6 would require separate approvals and technical sign-offs from engineering, urban forestry and environmental-quality staff before building permits.