Environmental Analysis Inventory

An Environmental Inventory and Analysis was performed as part of the land use analysis for the South Nicholasville Road Small Area Plan. It included an inventory of environmentally-related features of the Plan and surrounding areas as well as research into past proposals to change land uses. The sources of all the environmental features on the Environmental map were acquired from the LFUCG GIS (Geographic Information Systems) databases. Features inventoried on the Environmental map include:

 Soils and slope

 Contours

 Streams and springs

 FEMA floodplain

 Detention/Retention basins

 Tree canopy

 Impervious

 Fault lines (none found)

 Sinkholes (none mapped)

 Historic

Soils and Topography

On the west side of Nicholasville Road within the Plan area, most of the soil is prime farmland with slopes of two to six percent, which is good for both farming and building. A watershed boundary runs parallel to Nicholasville Road between the railroad tracks and Nicholasville Road. The area of prime farmland transitions to smaller areas of lesser significant soils with increases in slope along Nicholasville Road and the railroad tracks. There, lesser areas with soils in the classifications of farmland of statewide importance with slopes of six to 12 percent and not prime farmland 12 to 20 percent slope cover about 1/3 of the Plan area on the west side of Nicholasville Road.

On the east side of Nicholasville Road, the land is 40 to 50 percent prime farmland with slopes of two to six percent, while the soils with greater slopes make up the remainder. The areas of prime farmland with slopes of two to six percent are mostly concentrated on two properties: the farm at the southeast corner of Man o’ War Boulevard and Nicholasville Road, and the garden center/farm at the northeast corner, where portions are prime farmland while a larger percentage of the property has soils with slopes of six to 12 percent. Small areas of that property have soils with slopes of 12 to 20 percent.