A Lexington planning body on Thursday rejected an application for a seven-story student apartment complex near the University of Kentucky amid concerns from residents in the historic Black neighborhood.
The Urban County Planning Commission voted 5 to 4 to deny zone changes to more than a dozen properties on South Limestone, Prall and Montmullin streets that would have cleared the way for the new, 800-bedroom student housing complex.
But the fight is likely not over yet.
The zone changes now go to the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council, which could vote to overturn the commission’s decision. A date for that vote has not been set.
Planning commission members said Thursday they were torn.
The city’s comprehensive plan, which guides development and outlines locations for certain types of projects, calls for increased density along the city’s major corridors. But the seven-story building would be detrimental to what’s left of nearby Pralltown, a historic Black neighborhood created in the mid-1800s, neighbors said.