Lexington council to hold another public hearing on data centers amid moratorium
Lexington's Urban County Council is holding another public hearing in October to gather feedback on data center regulations and zoning within Fayette County. This follows an enacted moratorium on data center development and proposed regulations drafted by the planning commission, which include size, capacity, and environmental limits. Residents have expressed concerns over energy use, pollution, and water consumption related to data centers.
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council has scheduled a special meeting for October to solicit further public comments on the zoning and regulation of data centers in Fayette County. This public hearing comes after the council enacted a moratorium on data center development in June, prompted by a plan from DartPoints to expand a data center facility previously owned by Lexmark in north Lexington.
The council also directed Lexington's planning commission to develop a regulatory plan for data centers. The current draft of this plan proposes several restrictions, including limiting data center size to 40,000 square feet, imposing a 25-megawatt capacity cap, and setting a 30-decibel noise limit. These recommendations are significantly less than DartPoints' original long-term goal of a 50-megawatt operation.
Additional proposed regulations include 1,500-foot setbacks from sensitive areas like neighborhoods, schools, and hospitals, as well as requirements for decommissioning, stormwater management, and a ban on evaporation-based cooling systems to conserve water. Residents have voiced concerns about data centers' energy consumption, potential pollution, and ties to artificial intelligence, with an opportunity to provide further in-person feedback at the October 6th meeting.