Second lawsuit seeks to void Cave City annexation tied to proposed data center
A second lawsuit has been filed in Barren Circuit Court seeking to invalidate Cave City's 2024 annexation of 245 acres intended for a proposed hyperscale data center. The lawsuit, filed by Kentucky Industrial Alliance, LLC, argues the annexation was legally defective due to ownership issues concerning a small cemetery parcel within the annexed land. This new legal challenge follows an earlier lawsuit by the same company against the city's 12-month moratorium on data center developments.
A second lawsuit has been filed in Barren Circuit Court, challenging Cave City's 2024 annexation of approximately 245 acres earmarked for a hyperscale data center project. Kentucky Industrial Alliance, LLC, the developer, filed the complaint on June 30, naming the City of Cave City, Cave City Council, and the Joint City-County Planning Commission as defendants.
This new filing seeks to void the annexation ordinance, arguing that Branstetter Family Holdings, who signed the consent to annexation, did not own a .09-acre parcel containing Shaw Cemetery at the time, thereby invalidating the consent annexation process. The lawsuit contends that because the cemetery parcel allegedly had a different owner, the city should have followed standard annexation procedures requiring additional notice and hearings.
The proposed data center project, planned for the former Branstetter property along Doyle Avenue, had previously sparked public debate over concerns regarding water consumption, electrical demand, noise, and environmental impacts. These concerns led the Cave City Council to enact a 12-month moratorium on new data centers in May 2025. This latest lawsuit by Kentucky Industrial Alliance follows a previous legal challenge from earlier this month, where the company sued the city over the moratorium, arguing its development application should be considered under prior regulations. The defendants have 20 days from July 1 to respond to the new summons.