Author: Tom Eblen

Mentelle Neighborhood residents are encouraged to send letters to the city Planning Commission to oppose Shilling Properties’ proposal to rezone 706 Aurora Ave., where the company demolished a house last year, from single-family residential (R-1D) to business (B-1). The Planning Commission is scheduled to hear the rezoning request at 1:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 27. We need to get our letters to the commission before then.

Send letters or emails to:

Hal Baillie

Senior Planner

101 E. Vine St., Suite 700

Lexington, Ky. 40507

hbaillie@lexingtonky.gov

Please email a copy of your letter to MNA board member Jamie Lucke at jamiedlucke@gmail.com.

If you are interested in writing a letter, MNA board member Kim Naujokas has prepared the following information, which may be helpful:

Our Neighborhood

The Mentelle Neighborhood is a beautiful, diverse, walkable residential and neighborhood filled with friendly residents. Most of the neighborhood’s homes were developed between 1906 and 1930, although the oldest home dates to the 1790s.

With its charming Arts and Crafts-style homes, Aurora Avenue has experienced a renaissance in the past few years. The street has become increasingly popular with young families and a number of homes have undergone remodels and renovations.  Many homes feature wide front porches that encourage neighborhood interaction and spending quality time outside.

Aurora Avenue fits the definition of an “enhanced neighborhood” as described in the city’s “PlaceBuilder” document.

Rezoning 706 Aurora will:

• Add to the traffic congestion on Aurora Avenue
• Produce noise from increased vehicle and pedestrian traffic
• Unduly disrupt neighbors in the immediate area
• Produce safety concerns to pedestrians
• Present parking issues for residents
• Decrease the number of residential sites available rather than increase housing opportunities, per the city’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan

Rebuttals to Rezoning Proposal:

 Claim: “The zone change will allow a consistent depth of commercial along Walton Avenue, as established in the original plat.”

FACT: 226 Walton Avenue, the property adjacent to 706 Aurora, is directly across Aurora from a B-1 property that has a similar rear boundary. To rezone 706 Aurora would not keep a “consistent depth” of B-1 properties across Aurora. In addition, the two B-1 properties at the opposite end of the block (at the corner of Walton and Cramer avenues, parallel with Aurora) are the same depth as 226 Walton is now. It is clear that the corner B-1 properties were made shallower to accommodate the residential neighborhood.

Claim: “We are improving the parking situation by creating additional off-street parking…”

FACT: The majority of Blue Door Smokehouse’s business is “grab-and-go.” To identify a number of parking spaces based on restaurant seats (and to do so in a phased proposal) does not come close to the number of patrons that frequent this establishment and the number of parking spaces necessary to accommodate them. In addition, it is important to note that Schilling Properties could make more off-street parking available to Blue Door customers now, but they have not done so.

The Schilling Properties lot next to Blue Door Smokehouse has parking spaces for customers, but the lot is fenced off part-way back. If the fence were moved back to line up with the back of the building, more cars could be accommodated in this lot.

Claim: “…the proposal enhances the quality of life and promotes successful, accessible neighborhoods…”

FACT: Rezoning 706 Aurora will destroy the quality of life for its nearby residents, lower their property values, and add to the vehicular chaos that already exists when parents arrive to pick their children up from nearby Ashland Elementary. Based on the plans presented to the city, Blue Door customers will drive through the property directly toward one residence, then exit out on Aurora directly at two other residences. Car headlights will shine into home windows and vehicle and pedestrian noise will be heard in their front and back yards. As cars drive through the property to exit, their headlights will shine directly into this house directly behind Blue Door

Claim: “This zone change will promote pedestrian-oriented commercial opportunities in this residential area.”

FACT: A zone change of 706 Aurora is not necessary to accomplish this. The proximity of businesses on Walton and National avenues already provide plenty of “commercial opportunities” without encroaching directly into the residential part of the neighborhood. Residents can already walk to Blue Door Smokehouse as it exists now. In addition, contrary to the justification letter, Blue Door’s proposed expansion will only effect its kitchen, not its limited seating area. This is to increase its take-out business, not to accommodate more people walking to the restaurant.

Claim: “This proposal utilizes an underutilized, vacant parcel of land.”

FACT: The only reason this land is vacant is because Schilling tore down the house that used to be on 706 Aurora. A better use of this lot would be to rebuild a home in order to satisfy C-L16-2 of the Enhanced Neighborhood Development Criteria (“ADUs and/or affordable housing options should be incorporated into existing and new single-family residential development.”)

Claims: “Sidewalk improvements will provide safe access to this property” and “Improved sidewalks will provide safer facilities for users.”

FACT: If Schilling Properties actually improved the sidewalk at this corner and brought it out to where it should be, Blue Door could expand forward rather than back due to the significant amount of space this improvement would provide. As it is now, the corner is not up to current standards and is a safety issue for drivers and pedestrians.  Coupled with expanded off-street parking on its existing lot next to Blue Door, this may be all that is necessary for an expanded kitchen and bathroom.

Rebuttal: The existing sidewalk in front of Blue Door Smokehouse sits back from the rest of the sidewalk on Walton. By bringing the corner out to match the corner opposite it on Aurora, this property would gain square feet.

Claim: “This proposal will increase the viability of the existing business at 226 Walton Avenue.”

FACT: While this may be true, to do so at the expense of the surrounding neighborhood goes against the city’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan, which calls for “preserving, protecting and enhancing existing neighborhoods.” Furthermore, Schilling Properties owns both 226 Walton and 706 Aurora, not the existing business which currently leases the space. As Schilling Properties does not intend to sell the property to Blue Door Smokehouse, there is no telling what type of business may occupy this space in the future.

Rebuttal: Rezoning 706 Aurora Avenue goes against the city’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan, Theme A: Growing successful neighborhoods:

It disregards “Goal 1: Expand housing choices” which calls for the city and its residents to, “Accommodate the demand for housing in Lexington responsibly, prioritizing higher-density and mixture of housing types” and “Plan for safe, affordable and accessible housing to meet the needs of older and/or disadvantaged residents.”

It disregards “Goal 3: Provide well-designed neighborhoods and communities” which calls for the city to, “Enable existing and new neighborhoods to flourish through…expanded opportunities for neighborhood character preservation” and “Strive for positive and safe social interactions in neighborhoods.”

Rebuttal: Rezoning 706 Aurora Avenue goes against the city’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan, Theme D: Improving a desirable community:

It disregards “Goal 1: Work to achieve an effective and comprehensive transportation system” by adding to existing traffic congestion on Aurora and making the street unsafe for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other drivers. It most certainly will not, “Improve traffic operation strategies.”

It disregards “Goal 3: Protect and enhance the natural and cultural landscapes that give Lexington-Fayette County its unique identity and image” which calls for the city to, “Incentivize the renovation, restoration, development and maintenance of historic residential…structures.” This rezoning will have the opposite effect, causing the surrounding neighborhood to become less-desirable.

Save our Neighborhood!

According to the Imagine Lexington Placebuilder, an “enhanced neighborhood” should have “context-sensitive development.” Rezoning a residential home site into a B-1 space will not accomplish the following stated goals:

A-DN6-1: Allow and encourage new compact single-family housing types.

C-LI6-2: ADUs and/or affordable housing options should be incorporated into existing … single-family residential development.

C-PS10-3: Over-parking of new developments should be avoided.

D-CO2-1: Safe facilities for all users and modes of transportations should be provided.

Mentelle Neighborhood residents are invited to a meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 22, to see and comment on the association’s planned presentation before the Planning Commission about the rezoning request for 706 Aurora Ave. The meeting will be at 829 National Ave., at the corner of National and Given avenues.

Also, we need letters opposing the rezoning from single-family residential (R-1D) to business (B-1). The Planning Commission is scheduled to hear the rezoning request at 1:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 27. We need to get our letters to the commission before then.

Schilling Properties is seeking the rezoning to facilitate the expansion of Blue Door Smokehouse’s kitchen, restrooms and parking. Under the plan, all of Blue Door’s traffic would exit onto Aurora.

Send your letters or emails to:

Hal Baillie

Senior Planner

101 E. Vine St., Suite 700

Lexington, Ky. 40507

hbaillie@lexingtonky.gov

Please email a copy of your letter to MNA board member Jamie Lucke at jamiedlucke@gmail.com. We want to be sure all our voices are heard.

Here are a few things to think about:

• 706 Aurora became a vacant lot last year when Schilling demolished the house that had been there.
• Schilling Properties also owns 708 Aurora, currently a rental house.
• Schilling also owns three lots on Walton Avenue – 222 (Blue Door), 224 (also once a house, now a parking lot) and 226, the Schilling Properties office. It should be possible to accommodate the Blue Door traffic in a more orderly fashion on Schilling property already zoned for business if (and this is a big “if”) the Planning Commission would approve an exit onto Walton; after all, most of the traffic already is exiting onto Walton.
• Funneling the traffic onto Aurora will change the character of a residential street with narrow front yards where people like to socialize on their front porches and on the sidewalks.
• There’s no guarantee that Blue Door will remain the tenant, but the B1 zoning will last forever. We could end up with another high-traffic take-out restaurant that’s open all night.
• The incursion into a residential neighborhood violates the Planning Commission’s goal of promoting successful neighborhoods.
• Our neighborhood already meets all of the city’s criteria for a more densely developed core. We are an asset to Lexington that should be protected.

• 

Columbia Gas of Kentucky will be upgrading the natural gas pipelines in the Mentelle and Bell Court neighborhoods beginning in February. The project will include Walton Avenue, Bullock Place, Franklin Avenue, Hambrick Avenue and Cramer Avenue. Customers included in the project will receive a letter and an email before the project begins. Additional information about pipeline projects is available on the company’s website at ColumbiaGasKY.com/pipeline. Follow the company on Facebook and Twitter for project updates.

Mentelle Neighborhood residents are invited to a meeting at Blue Door Smokehouse at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 7, to hear about the Schilling estate’s proposal to rezone 706 Aurora Ave. (the first property on the south side of Aurora) from residential (R1) to business (B1) to facilitate a major expansion of Blue Door and its parking.  The meeting has been called by Blue Door’s owners and their lawyer.

The request for rezoning was filed Monday and the city Planning Commission could act on the proposal within four-to-eight weeks.
After the meeting at Blue Door, neighbors are invited to gather at 716 Aurora, the home of Jim and Sarah Ryder, for chili and to talk about what they’ve heard, what they think about it and next steps.

A memorial service for Daniel Thomas Cook will be held at 3 p.m. on Saturday, December 28, at St. Augustine Chapel on Rose Street, across from the University of Kentucky’s Guignol Theatre.

The service and tribute will include musical selections, reminiscences and a simple dinner.

Cook, 71, a neighbor on Given Avenue, died peacefully in his sleep Dec. 17.

His widow, Elaine, is chair of the Mentelle Neighborhood Association’s tree committee and often donates her musical talents for neighborhood gatherings. She is the harpist with the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the UK School of Music’s “Friends of Music,” the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, WEKU-FM or Central Academy of Music, where the Cooks’ grandsons, Jamie and Aaron, have taken music lessons.

“Any one of these would please Dan and would be a fitting tribute to him,” Elaine said.

Please join the Mentelle Neighborhood Association board in expressing our condolences to Elaine and her family.

 

 

The Mentelle Neighborhood Association board has authorized creation of a committee, headed by Aurora Avenue resident Jim Ryder, to study a controversial proposal by the city’s Division of Planning to allow “auxiliary dwelling units” — or ADUs — in single-family homes and on residential lots. Separately, but related, there has been discussion among neighborhoods and Urban County Council members about the regulation of Airbnbs and other short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods.

The committee will study these issues, gather and disseminate information about how these issues and proposals may affect our neighborhood, and make recommendations to the MNA board.

If you are interested in joining this committee or helping with the research, please contact Jim at jimryder1950@gmail.com.

As part of this effort, there is a new page on the MNA website with information, resources and news coverage about these issues. Read it by clicking here.

Thanks to everyone who came out for the annual membership meeting Wednesday evening at Ashland Elementary School. Here’s a brief summary:

• By a unanimous voice vote, members elected the slate of officers recommended by the nominating committee: Ann Olliges, president; Linda Worley, vice president; Tom Eblen, secretary; Todd Davis, treasurer; Will Jones, Jamie Lucke, Kim Naujokas, Shelby Reynolds and Ashley Sipple-McGraw, board members.
• Chad Walker of the Warehouse Block announced that all of his business tenants had paid to join the association. Several new neighborhood residents also joined at the meeting.
• Walker updated neighbors on plans to redevelop the vacant lot on National Avenue at the end of North Ashland Avenue with two small commercial buildings, community green space and additional parking for Warehouse Block patrons.
• The treasurer’s report noted an increase in funds to help with neighborhood social and improvement activities, including a $1,700 profit from the successful home and garden tour in September.
• Neighbors offered many ideas for social events and activities, including an Art Hop, progressive garden or porch party, an annual neighborhood-wide curb cleanup, a yard sale coordinated with the Kenwick neighborhood, a regular gardening and plant-swap group,  and new activities for the annual fall picnic.
• Members also expressed concerns, including some traffic issues, redevelopment plans for the Aurora Avenue lot behind Blue Door Smokehouse and the city’s proposal to allow Auxiliary Dwelling Units to be added inside and outside Lexington residences.

The Mentelle Neighborhood Association’s annual meeting is tonight at  6:30 p.m. at Ashland Elementary School. Association members will elect officers and board members for the coming year.

This is a good time to express your concerns and offer your ideas for social events and ways to improve our neighborhood.

Based on volunteers, the nominating committee has proposed a slate of officers and board members.  Nominations also may be made from the floor during the meeting. Also note: many association activists are not board members, and any member is welcome to attend monthly board meetings, which are the third Wednesday of each month, except July and December, at Local’s Craft Food & Drink, 701 National Ave.