Bluegrass Horse-Farm & Agricultural Preservation — LFUCG Rural Service Area & PDR (KY)
Tracked preemption from the Kentucky overlay bundle.
Overview
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Effective
1958-01-01
Sunset
—
Authority
local_state_layered
Scope
state:KY
Other Kentucky preemptions
2024 HB 443 — Objective-Standards / Ministerial-Application MandateKRS 65.490 et seq. — Tax Increment Financing (Local Development Areas)KRS 67C / Ky. Const. §156a — Louisville Metro Consolidated Local GovernmentKRS Chapter 224A / 224.01-400 — Brownfield Voluntary Environmental RemediationKRS 100.348 — Manufactured Housing Anti-Exclusion & Parity (2025 HB 160)KRS Chapter 350 / SMCRA — Surface Coal Mining Regulation & Mountaintop RemovalOffice of Kentucky Nature Preserves (OKNP) — Designated Nature Preserves & T&E HabitatKRS 146.200 et seq. — Kentucky Wild Rivers System
Trigger predicate
When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.
OR
city.in_lexington_fayette_ucg==Trueparcel.in_lfucg_rural_service_area==Trueparcel.in_lfucg_pdr_easement==Trueparcel.in_bluegrass_signature_horse_farm_area==True
Preempted fields
3 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.
| Field | Op | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
base_districts[A-R].rural_service_area_minimum_lot_size | floor_at | 40 | LFUCG Rural Service Area / Agricultural-Rural (A-R) zone: 40-acre minimum lot size (10 ac/dwelling on smaller historic tracts) protects horse-farm character against suburban subdivision |
land_development.subdivision_in_pdr_easement | waive | — | LFUCG Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) Program: ~31,000+ acres in conservation easement; future subdivision/non-ag development extinguished in perpetuity |
urban_service_area.boundary_expansion_supermajority | override | 12_of_15_LFUCG_council_vote | LFUCG Comprehensive Plan: USA boundary expansion requires 12-of-15 Urban County Council supermajority — strongest US-style urban growth boundary in KY |
Citation
Authority source
LFUCG Code of Ordinances Chapter 26 (Zoning Ordinance); LFUCG 2018 Comprehensive Plan; LFUCG PDR Program (Ordinance 250-2000); KRS Chapter 67A (Urban County Government); KRS §65.410 et seq. (Land Conservation easements)
§ LFUCG Code Ch. 26; PDR Ord. 250-2000; KRS Ch. 67A
Research notes
The Bluegrass horse-farm region (Fayette + inner-ring Bourbon, Scott, Woodford, Jessamine, Clark counties) is internationally recognized as a working agricultural landscape. LFUCG's combined Rural Service Area (40-ac minimum), PDR easement program (~31,000+ ac in perpetuity), and 12-of-15 USA boundary expansion supermajority constitute the strongest agricultural-preservation regime in the South. Surrounding counties (Bourbon, Woodford, Scott, Jessamine, Clark) maintain large-lot agricultural zoning that functionally extends the preservation envelope. The Rural Service Area / USA distinction in LFUCG is a load-bearing pre-zoning attribute — flag at the parcel level.