BY BETH MUSGRAVE
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com
January 30, 2015
After a debate of more than an hour, Lexington’s Board of Adjustment voted 6-1 Friday to allow an Islamic community center on Armstrong Mill Road.
The existing Islamic Center, on South Limestone, had applied for a conditional use permit for a worship center on a 9-acre site on Armstrong Mill Road currently zoned agricultural. The planned three-story building would include prayer space on the bottom floor, a gym on the second floor and a walking track on the third floor. It also would include 200 parking spaces.
Some residents of the River Park and Gainesway neighborhoods opposed the project.
Several neighbors spoke against the plan during Friday’s meeting.
Mark Jeffers, a vice president of the River Park Neighborhood Association, said adding more traffic on Armstrong Mill Road would create more potential for traffic accidents.
“I think it would make it more accident prone,” Jeffers said.
He also said that neighbors near the property have complained for years about problems with stormwater runoff.