Long-vacant lot at entrance to downtown Lexington is getting new life. Why some opposed it

After being vacant for more than a decade, a key entrance to downtown Lexington will soon have a new development.

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Board of Adjustment voted unanimously Monday to approve a conditional use permit for a drive-thru for a new Independence Bank at the corner of Main and Vine streets and Midland Avenue.

The site once was the home of Integra Bank, Heritage Antiques and The Button Hole but has been vacant for more than a decade.

Previous efforts to build on the key site downtown have been stymied because of one-way streets that border the property, which made putting a drive-thru in the area problematic.

The Board of Adjustment approved the conditional use permit for the drive-thru despite staff and traffic and planning staff’s objections.

The board asked Independence Bank, city staff and members of Town Branch Commons, a section of the Town Branch Trail that goes around the back of the property, to meet after its October meeting to discuss concerns about vehicular, pedestrian and bicycle traffic at that key intersection.

Independence Bank had proposed two different access points into the property along Main Street. The drive-through lane would be located at the back of the property closest to Water Street. However, traffic engineering had concerns the east entrance’s location would be so close to the Main, Vine and Midland intersection.

Stephen Parker, a Lexington traffic engineer, proposed an alternative that only had one entrance off of Main Street that was closest to Carson’s Food and Drink. That entrance was further away from the Main, Vine and Midland intersections, which would be safer for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists, Parker said. Parker’s plan also called for an exit onto Water Street, a small access road that runs behind the property and parallel to Vine Street.

To accomplish that, the building’s orientation, or its front entrance, would have to be turned toward Main Street. The two-story brick bank’s original orientation was toward Vine Street.

Nick Nicholson, a lawyer who represents Independence Bank, told the Board of Adjustment that flipping the orientation of the building would be problematic because there are utility easements on the pie-shaped property toward the Vine Street side.

Parker said he felt the bank could still fit on the property and not interfere with the utility easements on the property.

Blake Hall was the only member of the public to speak against the plans Monday.

Hall said the city’s comprehensive plan, which guides growth and determines what types of developments go where, clearly states drive-thrus are not to be permitted in downtown Lexington. The Town Branch Commons trail goes right by the property. There is now a lot more pedestrian and bicycles in that area. A drive-thru at that location is dangerous, Hall said.

“Three different times it says in the comp plan no drive-thrus,” Hall said.

Ultimately, the Board of Adjustment approved Independence Bank’s original plan which included two entrances on Main Street and no access to Water Street. A parking lot, which can be used for those that want to access the Town Branch Commons trail, will front the property at the corner of Main and Vine streets. The proposed bank will be 10,000 square feet. In total, the property will have 37 parking spaces, some on the side of the building closest to Carson’s restaurant.

Independence Bank has another location at 444 East Main Street, across the street from the new location. That location does not have a drive-thru.