Report: 10 Lexington neighborhoods where residents are more likely to be forced out

It’s the dirty side of redevelopment: The combination of code violations, rising property taxes or flipped properties with higher rent that drives lower-income residents from homes in some city blocks.

A task force has identified several vulnerable Lexington neighborhoods and recommended steps to help, some of which have already been adopted.

The Neighborhoods in Transition task force was appointed in 2018 by Vice Mayor Steve Kay at the behest of Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilman James Brown, who represents the city’s north and east side, which has seen an influx in new investment that has pushed some longtime residents out.

“It’s not a silver bullet,” said Brown of the task force’s more than 30 recommendations. Brown chaired the task force that met for more than two years. “It gets us started.”

Some of the conclusions have already been implemented. The task force shared some of its preliminary proposals with Mayor Linda Gorton’s Racial Justice and Equality Commission, which also addressed housing and gentrification in its October recommendations.

A new department of housing was recently created. The city is currently looking for a housing commissioner. The city has also started a new grant program that will help homeowners with no money fix repeat code violations. East Side residents have long alleged that investors have unfairly used code enforcement to target homeowners who can’t afford repairs.

This year’s budget also includes $3 million — up from $2 million typically spent — for affordable housing as the task force advocated.

Other recommendations include:

• Changing state law to allow people up to seven days to appeal a code violation.

• Creating a rental unit registry that includes requiring inspections.

• Developing a program/agency that works with homeowners at risk of losing their homes due to unpaid taxes.

• Partnering the city’s community and resident services with code enforcement to determine if homeowners may qualify for additional services or programs.

• Tracking and focusing on areas at high risk for involuntary displacement of residents.

Involuntary displacement can happen when a rental property is purchased, flipped and the new rents are too high for the residents who traditionally lived there. Displacement can also occur when a homeowner’s property taxes increase rapidly due to new investment in the area and higher sales prices. Sometimes, people are forced to sell homes if there are too many code violations the homeowner can’t pay to fix.

The task force spent a year analyzing housing trends and other economic data to determine which areas and neighborhoods were most at risk for involuntary displacement.

The group focused on four key factors or indicators when evaluating areas:

• Mean home prices below the county average.

• High minority population.

• High percentages of people whose median income was less than 30 percent of the average.

• Low owner occupancy.

Other contributing factors include a higher percentage of seniors in an area, lower educational attainment and foreclosures.

Those four factors were found in 10 census tracts, including neighborhoods along Versailles Road, much of the city’s East Side from Midland Avenue to Broadway, the Georgetown Road corridor and the Winburn neighborhood.

Brown said during a Tuesday council work session that some of the task force recommendations will be referred to various council committees.

Brown said he hopes the Mayor’s Commission on Racial Justice and Equality, which will soon be made permanent, will help monitor and steer conversations on involuntary displacement in the future.

“It sets the stage to continue this work with the Mayor’s Commission on Racial Justice,” Brown said.

Vice Mayor Steve Kay said when Brown approached him two years ago about creating the task force he was hesitant. He knew the issue was complex.

“The conversation was difficult because it involved race and class,” Kay said. But those difficult conversations have already led to tangible change, including a new housing department.

Not all investment in lower-income communities is bad, Kay said. But forcing people out of neighborhoods they want to live in is problematic, he said.

“It’s more visible. People . . . understand more about it,” Kay said of the task force’s work. “It’s about people who have lived in that neighborhood, who have liked living in there who start to get forced out.”