OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Louisville Metro Council Meeting - June 11, 2026: Safe Haven Law Fails, Zoning Changes Approved, and Multiple NDFs Passed

Metro Council & Committees — Thursday, June 11, 2026
BodyLouisville, Kentucky
SessionMetro Council & Committees
DateThursday, June 11, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:06:22

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

I started out as basically a sales intern, did public address, uh, was ticket manager, group sales director, promotions director, marketing director, assistant uh GM, vice president.

0:10

Uh even had a step as part owner and assistant GM of the Louisville River Frogs East Coast Hockey League team, which our Redbirds front office staff ran for three years back in the mid-90s, and we had a great time with that because actually at that time, promotionally, the Redbirds, we were pretty conservative.

0:26

The River Frogs kind of became our laboratory to go and do some wild and crazy promotions.

0:32

And we fell in love with a lot of the ideas and concepts we came up with, and we actually brought them over to the baseball side and implemented them and actually still use a lot of them here uh at our ballpark.

0:43

We actually uh got into the habit of um shooting uh either boxer shorts or t-shirts at old Cardinal Stadium.

0:51

And the mistake we made when we came down to Louisville Slugger Field our first game is we brought our old t-shirt gun with us, but our promotional staff forgot to recalibrate it.

0:59

Uh-oh.

0:59

So it was calibrated for uh Cardinal Stadium.

1:02

And you remember how big and cavernous that place was.

1:04

So you can actually hurt somebody.

1:05

We came in here at Slugger Field first night, and we are shooting river frogs, uh bats, I'm sorry, boxer briefs into the crowd.

1:12

Unfortunately, the gun was calibrated for Cardinal Stadium.

1:15

We're shooting underwear out of the stadium.

1:17

It's going over the roof and coming down on Main Street and landing on cars because it was calibrated so strong.

1:24

Uh so that's one of the many weird stories that I could tell.

1:26

Like a boxer belief drone kind of thing.

1:28

Yep, that's winning underwear.

1:31

You you've been well known for some of the creative promotions that you do out here.

1:35

So what is still to come for folks who are watching global now and they're saying, Man, I gotta get out to Slugger Field.

1:41

Tell them, you've got some exciting stuff coming.

1:43

We do.

1:43

Uh each and every week we've got something really unique and and new going on.

1:47

Um, we just finished up with a really tremendous Star Wars promotion where we did a drone show on Saturday night.

1:53

That was a lot of fun.

1:54

Uh coming up while the team is actually away, we'll be playing cosmic baseball.

1:58

Uh, it's kind of a takeoff on banana ball.

2:00

Uh, but actually the last four innings of the game, they turn all the stadium lights out, except for the black lights that they will have installed in our stadium.

2:08

So you're gonna have players playing in glow-in-the-dark jerseys, bases, bats, balls for four innings.

2:13

Uh unfortunately, both those games are already sold out, uh, June 19th and 20th.

2:17

So that's coming up.

2:19

Um, but again, we've got a lot of cool things going on for the rest of the season.

2:23

The one that really just got us national acclaim was our nothing night.

2:26

Oh, I've heard about this.

2:28

You gotta do it again.

2:29

Which it's it's kind of making fun of Minor League Baseball as a whole because Minor League Baseball is now known for so many promotions, noise, everything going on all the time.

2:38

And we basically pulled the plug in all of that.

2:40

And basically all you hear is organ music.

2:43

There's no promotions, there's no video board slides, there's just the line score.

2:48

You hear the crack of the bat, the ball hitting uh the mid of the glove.

2:52

There's no walk-up music for any players.

2:54

And it just uh it went viral basically, uh, the last homestand.

2:58

You know, I can understand the attraction to that for the purest who wants to come out of here and maybe even keep their own score sheet and stat sheet.

3:05

And and they just like you said, want to hear the crack of the bat, none of the distractions.

3:08

So that was something that I guess the old is new again, and it all worked out.

3:13

We were getting calls from ESPN, Major League Baseball Network, TV stations in San Francisco, New York, Boston were calling us.

3:19

Um so it's become such a hit nationally.

3:22

We're gonna run it back, and we're gonna do it Wednesday night, July 8th.

3:25

So we'll have another nothing night on that night.

3:27

Uh so if you're uh hearing this interview, put that date on your calendar, come out and experience some really interesting baseball.

3:34

Yep.

3:34

July 8th is one of those dates.

3:36

And I want to talk about another date, if you don't mind, uh, if you would.

3:40

May 28th, right around the corner.

3:43

Yep.

3:43

Okay, uh a big night for me personally, but a big night for a lot of folks.

3:47

This is something the bats do so well.

3:50

Give back.

3:50

If you can help out a charitable entity, you do that, and you're you're doing it on the 28th.

3:55

Yep.

3:55

The 28th, we're partnering with our friends with the ALS Association here in Kentucky.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural███████████████████████████27%
Public Safety██████████████████18%
Arts And Culture█████████9%
Community Engagement█████████9%
Disability Rights███████7%
Public Health█████5%
Affordable Housing████4%
Zoning Regulation████4%
Racial Equity███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Louisville Metro Council Meeting - June 11, 2026

The Louisville Metro Council met on Thursday, June 11, 2026, from 6:02 PM to 8:08 PM in Council Chambers with a hybrid attendance format. Council President Brent Ackerson (D-26) presided. Of the 26 members, 25 were present (Josie Raymond was excused); Councilmembers Kramer and Reed attended virtually. The meeting featured nine public speakers, a consent calendar approved 24-0, and a series of old business items culminating in the failure of the proposed "Safe Haven Law" and the passage of several zoning and neighborhood development fund (NDF) ordinances.

Consent Calendar

Approved by a vote of 24-0. Key items included:

  • O-148-26: Amending the FY 2025-2026 capital budget by transferring funds within the traffic calming project and adding project language.
  • R-052-26: Amending Council Rule 5A regarding the presiding officer at committee meetings and virtual attendance.
  • R-045-26: Authorizing the mayor to accept $59,357.92 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Summer Feeding Service Grant Program.
  • R-046-26: Honoring Rev. Dr. Leonard Ramsey by naming the corner of Dixie Highway and Gaulbert Avenue as "Rev. Dr. Leonard Ramsey Way."
  • Multiple appointments and reappointments to the Bardstown Road Overlay District Board, Civilian Review & Accountability Board, Human Relations Commission, and Jefferson County Extension Board.
  • R-057-26: Authorizing the mayor to accept $265,000 from the USTA for reconstruction of ten tennis courts at Seneca Park.
  • O-145-26: Amending LMCO Section 42.41 to set green fees at Louisville Metro Golf Courses.
  • R-051-26: Authorizing the mayor to accept $19,942.31 from the DOJ through the IACP grant program for LMPD.

Public Comments & Testimony

Nine residents addressed the Council. The majority spoke on two topics:

  • Safe Haven Law (O-075-26): Joe Bramer and Ryan Fullerton opposed the ordinance, arguing it would violate state/federal law, harm children, and endanger women. Catherine Blackard and Tyler Rooney supported it, citing the need for protections amid rising anti-trans legislation and urging the Council to uphold civil rights. Evan Calvin also spoke in opposition, emphasizing the two-gender reality.
  • Massage Facility Ordinance: Donna Martin, Samantha Davis, and Gabriel Vela (all licensed massage therapists) urged the Council to exempt solo practitioners, arguing the ordinance would burden legitimate businesses without effectively targeting human trafficking.
  • Other: Emmett Valentine of SOS requested $100,000 in the FY 2026-2027 budget to continue medical supply reuse, noting a surge in need (42 requests in 11 days in June).

Discussion Items

Safe Haven Law (O-075-26) - Failed

Primary sponsor JP Lyninger (D-6) introduced an amendment by substitution to add definitions, a bias-motivated incident documentation section, advocate protections, and procurement compliance. The amendment failed 11-13-1 (Councilmember Winkler present). The main motion then failed 2-21-2 (Lyninger and Parrish-Wright yes; Hawkins and Chappell present). Councilmember Seum noted the unfavorable committee recommendation (6-1). Lyninger defended the grassroots organizing of trans residents and pledged to continue fighting. Piagentini argued the Fairness Ordinance already provides sufficient protections and that the ordinance would violate state law. Parrish-Wright supported the measure, stating that existing protections are inadequate. Hawkins cautioned against impugning motives.

Zoning: 3827 Poplar Level Road (O-127-26) - Passed 25-0

Councilmember Owen presented the rezoning of a 0.22-acre lot in District 10 to split a single-family home into a duplex (three total units). Councilwoman Raymond supported via Owen.

Zoning: 1901 R Payne Street (O-137-26) - Passed 20-5

Owen explained the downzoning from heavy industrial (M2) to light industrial after two fatal explosions at the Givaudan site. Batshon opposed, warning of a precedent that would create a developer loophole and undermine the zoning process. Lyninger supported, citing the need to protect public safety and address environmental racism. Reed and Herndon supported due to the uniqueness of the situation.

Detailed District Development Plan: 9718 Dixie Highway / 5308 Citation Road (O-138-26) - Passed 25-0

A revised plan for a Chick-fil-A development in District 14, unanimously recommended by the Planning Commission. A typographical error ("Taylorsville" instead of "Citation") was corrected by amendment.

TIF Amendment: 700 E Main Street (O-144-26) - Passed 24-1

Councilmember Reno-Weber described a $275 million mixed-use project adding 340 multifamily units (10% affordable at 80% AMI), a 214-room hotel, and a public parking garage. Lyninger voted no.

NDF: Louisville Tool Library (O-107-26) - Passed 25-0 (amended to $8,967)

Lyninger presented; additional funds added from Districts 1, 8, 9, 15, 20, and 21.

NDF: Bard's Town Theatre (O-114-26) - Passed 24-0 with 1 abstention (Batshon) (amended to $6,500)

Lyninger presented; additional funds from Districts 8, 9, and 15.

NDF: Crescent Hill 4th of July Festival (O-132-26) - Passed 25-0 (amended to $5,250)

Owen presented; additional funds from Districts 8, 12, 13, and 24.

NDF: Prominent Youth of America Summer Program (O-139-26) - Passed 25-0 (amended to $7,000)

Lyninger presented; additional funds from Districts 14 and 21.

Administrative Search Warrants (O-047-26) - Passed 25-0

Councilmember Seum and Robbie Howard (County Attorney's Office) described the ordinance as creating a framework for issuing administrative search warrants, previously lacking a legal basis.

Key Outcomes

  • Safe Haven Law (O-075-26) Failed: An amendment failed 11-13-1; the main motion failed 2-21-2. Councilmember Lyninger committed to continued advocacy.
  • Zoning Changes Approved: O-127-26 (25-0), O-137-26 (20-5), and O-138-26 (25-0) passed, including the controversial downzoning of the Givaudan site.
  • TIF Amendment Approved: O-144-26 passed 24-1.
  • Neighborhood Development Funds: Four NDF ordinances were amended to increase total funding and passed unanimously or nearly unanimously.
  • Administrative Search Warrants Ordinance Passed: O-047-26 passed 25-0.
  • New Business Assigned to Committees: Items 57-90 received a first reading and were assigned to the appropriate committees. No votes were taken on these items.
  • Next Meeting: Scheduled for Thursday, June 25, 2026, at 6:00 PM.

Meeting Transcript

I started out as basically a sales intern, did public address, uh, was ticket manager, group sales director, promotions director, marketing director, assistant uh GM, vice president. Uh even had a step as part owner and assistant GM of the Louisville River Frogs East Coast Hockey League team, which our Redbirds front office staff ran for three years back in the mid-90s, and we had a great time with that because actually at that time, promotionally, the Redbirds, we were pretty conservative. The River Frogs kind of became our laboratory to go and do some wild and crazy promotions. And we fell in love with a lot of the ideas and concepts we came up with, and we actually brought them over to the baseball side and implemented them and actually still use a lot of them here uh at our ballpark. We actually uh got into the habit of um shooting uh either boxer shorts or t-shirts at old Cardinal Stadium. And the mistake we made when we came down to Louisville Slugger Field our first game is we brought our old t-shirt gun with us, but our promotional staff forgot to recalibrate it. Uh-oh. So it was calibrated for uh Cardinal Stadium. And you remember how big and cavernous that place was. So you can actually hurt somebody. We came in here at Slugger Field first night, and we are shooting river frogs, uh bats, I'm sorry, boxer briefs into the crowd. Unfortunately, the gun was calibrated for Cardinal Stadium. We're shooting underwear out of the stadium. It's going over the roof and coming down on Main Street and landing on cars because it was calibrated so strong. Uh so that's one of the many weird stories that I could tell. Like a boxer belief drone kind of thing. Yep, that's winning underwear. You you've been well known for some of the creative promotions that you do out here. So what is still to come for folks who are watching global now and they're saying, Man, I gotta get out to Slugger Field. Tell them, you've got some exciting stuff coming. We do. Uh each and every week we've got something really unique and and new going on. Um, we just finished up with a really tremendous Star Wars promotion where we did a drone show on Saturday night. That was a lot of fun. Uh coming up while the team is actually away, we'll be playing cosmic baseball. Uh, it's kind of a takeoff on banana ball. Uh, but actually the last four innings of the game, they turn all the stadium lights out, except for the black lights that they will have installed in our stadium. So you're gonna have players playing in glow-in-the-dark jerseys, bases, bats, balls for four innings. Uh unfortunately, both those games are already sold out, uh, June 19th and 20th. So that's coming up. Um, but again, we've got a lot of cool things going on for the rest of the season. The one that really just got us national acclaim was our nothing night. Oh, I've heard about this. You gotta do it again. Which it's it's kind of making fun of Minor League Baseball as a whole because Minor League Baseball is now known for so many promotions, noise, everything going on all the time. And we basically pulled the plug in all of that. And basically all you hear is organ music. There's no promotions, there's no video board slides, there's just the line score. You hear the crack of the bat, the ball hitting uh the mid of the glove. There's no walk-up music for any players. And it just uh it went viral basically, uh, the last homestand. You know, I can understand the attraction to that for the purest who wants to come out of here and maybe even keep their own score sheet and stat sheet. And and they just like you said, want to hear the crack of the bat, none of the distractions. So that was something that I guess the old is new again, and it all worked out. We were getting calls from ESPN, Major League Baseball Network, TV stations in San Francisco, New York, Boston were calling us. Um so it's become such a hit nationally. We're gonna run it back, and we're gonna do it Wednesday night, July 8th. So we'll have another nothing night on that night. Uh so if you're uh hearing this interview, put that date on your calendar, come out and experience some really interesting baseball. Yep.

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