Lexington
Townhouse Ordinance Amended
Lexington City Council unanimously has voted to approve an amendment to the city’s townhouse ordinance that removes a requirement that such developments front onto a public street.
The vote came after a public hearing on the proposed amendment at Council’s April 16 meeting. While no one spoke at the hearing, Council did receive written comments from Michael Perry prior to the meeting, urging Council to not approve the amendment and expressing concern about limited access to any such developments by fire department vehicles if the development was not accessible from a public street.
Lexington planning director Arne Glaeser and City Manager Tom Carroll reported to Council that they had discussed the proposed amendment with Ty Dickerson and Trent Roberts – the city’s fire chief and fire marshal, respectively – and that the fire department staff was comfortable with the amendment.
Glaeser further noted that the fire department reviews all site plans for any developments within the city to provide oversight and raise any concerns about accessibility to the property during an emergency situation. Carroll emphasized that their involvement in that process would help ensure that adequate fire safety access is maintained for any townhouse developments.
“We appreciate any concern about fire safety and we share concerns about fire safety, but we respectfully do not share the concerns raised by the citizen comment,” Carroll said.
Schools Team Studying AI Policy Draft
Lexington City Schools has begun laying the groundwork for a formal artificial intelligence policy, said Superintendent Rebecca Walters.
After surveying LCS families, staff, and middle school students this spring about their perspectives and concerns around AI, the division assembled a strategic planning team that includes teachers, administrators, technology staff, parents from Waddell Elementary and Lylburn Downing Middle School, a School Board member, and two eighth graders from LDMS.
The team held its first meeting April 16, where Walters and instructional technology resource teacher Jen Hall presented a draft vision and guiding principles for AI use in the division. Members discussed federal guidelines on student and staff privacy and security before breaking into small groups to examine four core principles: AI literacy, privacy and security, equitable access, and transparency.
Walters said the input gathered from those discussions will shape the division’s next steps, including plans for staff and student education and establishing guardrails around AI use in schools.
