Lexington-Fayette Urban County
Human Rights Commission
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April
7, 2003
As the supply of developable
land within Lexington-Fayette County’s urban service district continues to
decline creating higher housing prices, minority and low to moderate-income
households can expect to feel the brunt of the impact, according to the Urban
Growth Controls and Affordable Housing study by the University of Kentucky
Center for Real Estate Studies (UKCRES).
The
study was prepared by UKCRES, under a contract with the Lexington-Fayette Urban
County Human Rights Commission and the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government
Division of Community Development, to conduct an analysis of the economic impact
of various zoning ordinances and land use programs on housing costs.
Fayette
County was one of the first counties in the nation to utilize a growth control
ordinance that created an “urban service area” and “rural service area”
in the 1960s. These areas
effectively limited the provision of county and city service to the urban
designated area with the rural area being reserved for agricultural use. As
Lexington witnessed dramatic population growth over the years, the supply of
developable land within the original urban service area was limited. The
implementation of urban growth boundaries produced the intended effect of
limiting Lexington’s growth __ particularly in the second half
of the 1990s. This has created extensive pressure on elected officials to expand
the urban service area.
In order to provide guidance to
policy makers, the study provides a comprehensive survey of the literature on
the impact of modern urban growth controls; a survey of theoretical models that
provide economic predictions of the impact of growth controls; and an empirical
analysis of the Lexington-Fayette market, particularly the impact the urban
service boundary has had on property values.
The study found that because the restriction on the supply of developable
land has only recently begun to be felt the growth controls have had a weak
impact on Lexington’s housing market. However, the theoretical studies predict
that as the supply of developable land within the urban service district
continues to decline, housing prices will continue to rise and will most impact
low to moderate-income household’s ability to acquire affordable housing.
To download and/or view the study, please click
here.
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