Development is booming in Lexington District 3. How would council candidates address it?
Lexington council candidates Griffin VanMeter and Jon Larson discussed the city’s development pressures, including data centers. Larson opposes data centers and wants safeguards for farmland and the Kentucky River Basin, while VanMeter supports the city’s one-year pause and says environmental, water and grid impacts must be addressed.
Griffin VanMeter and Jon Larson are competing for Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council District 3, which includes downtown Lexington, the University of Kentucky and parts of the city’s south side. Both candidates emphasized housing and development issues, while Larson criticized private development for changing neighborhood character and VanMeter advocated denser construction that avoids displacement and the loss of historic properties.
On data centers, Larson said he does not support the industry but believes it will be difficult to stop, calling for guardrails to protect farmland and the Kentucky River Basin. VanMeter said he was pleased that the city voted to pause data center development for a year and said any future smaller facilities would need measures to limit urban heat, water consumption and electricity-grid strain, without shifting costs to ordinary ratepayers.