District 6 eNews - Wednesday, February 5, 2025

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Councilman Lyninger

 Councilman JP Lyninger

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     (502) 574-1106        

 


Nick  Conder

Legislative Assistant
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(502) 574-3910

 


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This Issue:


District 6 Advisory Council

We are still taking applications for our District 6 Advisory Council. We have gotten over 30 applications so far, but we are still accepting them because we will need a lot of volunteers to make this project a success. Please apply if you haven't already!

You can apply here and our office will contact you soon.


External Agency Fund Grant Applications Now Open

eafgrantapps

Beginning Friday, January 31, Louisville Metro Government will begin accepting applications for External Agency Fund (EAF) grants. If your nonprofit organization is committed to providing services that achieve meaningful outcomes for low-income Louisvillians, you are encouraged to apply. Learn all about the process and view the application guidelines here.


2025 Donate Life KY Scholarship

donatelifescholly

Donate Life Kentucky Trust, with support from Kentucky's Circuit Clerks Trust Endowment, have opened applications for the 2025 Donate Life Kentucky Scholarship. The application deadline is April 7, 2025. Learn more and apply here.


Upcoming Events

Meeting with the Louisville Water Company

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Representatives from Louisville Water Company will be holding an informational meeting about Phase 2 of the Oak Street Project on Thursday, Feb. 6 from 6pm-7pm at the Shelby Park Community Center located at 600 E Oak Street.

Algonquin Neighborhood Anti-Violence Coalition

The Algonquin AVC will meet on Tuesday, February 25 at 5 PM. The group will meet at the Villages of Park Duvalle Senior Building, located at 2900 Dr William G Weathers Drive.

Germantown-Paristown Neighborhood Association

GPNA has public meetings on the 3rd Monday of each month at 6:00 PM at the Hope Mills Building, located at 1000 Swan Street.

Limerick Neighborhood Association

Meetings on the third Wednesday of the every month at 7:00 PM Location: Noble Funk Brewery - 922. S. 2nd St.

Meriwether-Fort Hill Neighborhood Association

Monthly Meetings held at The Bard's Town - 511 E Burnett Ave at 6:30 p.m. on the 2nd Wednesday

Old Louisville Neighborhood Council

OLNC meets on the 4th Tuesday of the month at 7pm. Location: the Historic Old Louisville Visitors Center (1340 S 4th Street)

Park Hill Neighborhood Anti-Violence Coalition

The Park Hill AVC will meet on Thursday, February 13 at 5:30 PM. The group will meet at the Bridges of Hope Neighborhood Place (1411 Algonquin Parkway).

Shelby Park Neighborhood Association

SPNA members meet most months on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 6:00 p.m. Location: Shelby Park Community Center (600 E. Oak Street)

Taylor Berry Neighborhood Association

Meetings held on the 1st Tuesday of the month (except August) at 6 pm at the South Louisville Community Center (2911 Taylor Boulevard).


Organizing Corner Vol. III: Don't Wait on Zoning Concerns

This past Metro Council meeting, there was a rezoning ordinance that had passed out of committee with a recommendation for approval on a divided vote. The issue at hand was a rezoning of a piece of property owned by Fabricated Metals on Southside Drive. The property owner was seeking a change from C-2 to M-3 (in other words, a change from a commercial zoning you’d expect from an office building with light traffic or a convenience store to zoning for manufacturing and industrial purposes). I voted ‘no’ on the issue, but it passed at the Council meeting.

One of the reasons that this passed are the serious restrictions on what the Metro Council is and isn’t allowed to consider on questions of zoning that too many people don’t know about! When it comes to zoning issues, the law is clear: we are only allowed to consider what is in the official record that led to the decision of the Planning Commission, the step in rezoning before it reached the Metro Council. If we vote against the recommendation of the planning commission for reasons outside of that record, the courts will overturn our decision. That means, if you wait to contact the Metro Council about zoning issue concerns once it reaches us, it’s too late! In fact, if you want to speak at a Metro Council meeting on a zoning issue that we’re considering, the clerk will tell you that you aren’t allowed to even sign up.

In this particular case, we weren’t even allowed to consider serious process questions concerning language barriers: not only is a Vietnamese convent a neighbor to this project, someone who only spoke Spanish tried to raise concerns at a public meeting but no translator was available. This area, as many in Louisville know, is one where translation services are a must. I joined several other members of the Metro Council in expressing deep concern and dismay over this failure of our city, especially as it meant that there was no way for us to redress the problem.

It’s very important to stay up to date on zoning issues in your neighborhood! When you get a piece of mail or see a sign about a property in your area, do your best to learn more. If it turns out that this is a change that will hurt you or your neighbors: organize! Get the word out, attend the meetings, and make sure your concerns are on the record. Also, please reach out directly to me on any zoning issue that will affect our neighbors. I can’t promise you that we will win every fight, or even that we will necessarily agree, but I will always be honest with you about the process and the options we have available.

Above all else, though, remember that the only way to have any effect on zoning issues is to be as proactive as possible—good advice for any organizing.