Lexington residents pack public hearing on data centers. What are their concerns?
Lexington residents advocated for stronger restrictions, including bans, on data center projects at a public hearing in Fayette County, citing concerns about energy use and pollution. The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Planning Commission subsequently added tighter guidelines to a data center zoning amendment, which will be sent to the Urban County Council for final approval. A temporary moratorium on construction in the county is set to expire on October 31.
Residents of Lexington, Kentucky, packed a public hearing to advocate for stronger restrictions, and even outright bans, on data center projects within Fayette County. Community members voiced significant concerns regarding the industry's substantial energy consumption, potential pollution, and ties to artificial intelligence, arguing that data centers primarily extract resources without creating jobs.
The public input prompted the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Planning Commission to incorporate more stringent guidelines into a data center zoning amendment. This action followed approximately three hours of public comment during a meeting held to meet a 60-day deadline set by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council in June, which had also enacted a moratorium on construction through October 31.
While some residents, like Don Ament, expressed worries that the commission had insufficient time to develop comprehensive regulations, Council member Emma Curtis, a vocal opponent of data centers, countered that the draft amendment had been publicly available for over a month and had been discussed in prior work sessions. Curtis further pledged to work towards strengthening the amendment when it reaches the council next month or, failing that, to extend the moratorium beyond October 31.
Planning commission members, including Frank Penn, defended their efforts, noting they were working under a tight deadline imposed by the council to address both data centers and solar farm zoning. The council's moratorium was initiated after DartPoints, a data center company, purchased a former Lexmark property in north Lexington. Jon Woodall, a legal representative for DartPoints, confirmed the company's plans to update the site with noise and water reduction improvements and stated their support for a commission-recommended 25 MW capacity limit, which is half their original 50 MW long-term plan, to prevent larger hyperscale facilities. The Lexington-Fayette County Environmental Commission also presented its own stricter performance metric requirements, influencing the final additions to the zoning amendment, which the council is expected to review on August 18.