Planning commission approves White Farm/Hillpointe zoning change and development plan, citing workforce housing

The Lexington City Planning Commission voted unanimously on March 26 to approve a zoning map amendment (PLN MAR 26‑2) and the associated development plan (PLN MJDP 26‑12) for the White Farm, a roughly 39‑acre project proposed by Hillpointe that would add medium‑density residential development and a multimodal connection between existing neighborhoods.

Staff planner Jeremy York presented the zoning request and told commissioners the revised submittal addressed earlier staff concerns about street pattern, pedestrian connections and traffic calming. "They've added bump outs and shortened block lengths to enhance walkability and slow traffic," York said in his presentation to the commission. Planning staff recommended approval subject to the development plan sign‑offs and county review.

Chris Cheney of planning staff described the March 24 revised development plan and said the changes removed the need for waivers that had been required under the prior submittal, while noting outstanding administrative items such as street naming for addressing and sanitary sewer capacity sign‑offs. Cheney said the plan depicts townhomes clustered on the northwest of the site and multifamily buildings to the southeast and that internal pedestrian connectivity was provided but that the plan did not include dedicated bicycle facilities.

Transportation planner James Mills summarized the traffic impact study used by staff. The study compared a no‑build to a build scenario and concluded that the existing roadway system generally can accommodate trips from the proposed land use, with most intersections at level of service D or better. Mills noted, however, that a planned restricted crossing U‑turn (RCUT) at Richmond Road and Yorkshire Boulevard scheduled for June 2026 could alter those findings. "A new RCUT could change the study results," Mills said, and staff recommended traffic calming measures such as bump outs on Dabney Drive.

Hillpointe representatives told the commission the developer intends to deliver workforce housing targeted at roughly 80–120% of area median income and that Hillpointe will continue to own and manage the property. Pamela Thompson, Hillpointe's director of external affairs, described the company’s typical product: "Our main product is a two‑bedroom, three‑story garden‑style walk‑up," she said, adding Hillpointe has built and managed large numbers of units across multiple states.

A nearby resident and licensed civil engineer, Harsha Vijay Sri, spoke in favor of the project but urged staff to conduct a more detailed drainage analysis of two proposed regional detention basins and to review signal timing at Richmond Road given existing peak‑hour queuing. He warned that undersized emergency outlets could risk basement flooding in adjacent homes.

Commissioners moved and voted to approve first the zoning map amendment and then the development plan; both actions carried unanimously. Staff noted standard municipal sign‑offs (county council zone change approval, engineering, traffic, urban forester, open‑space and environmental sign‑offs) remain required before final approvals and building permits.

What happens next: the development plan approvals are conditioned on the remaining administrative sign‑offs. Staff also indicated the developer may later request a waiver at the final development plan stage for a multimodal cross‑section of Dabney Drive.