Cave City leaders advance temporary ban on data center development
Cave City's city council has approved a one-year moratorium on data center applications to allow time for enacting specific zoning regulations. Residents expressed strong opposition, advocating for a permanent ban on data centers in the Mammoth Cave region. The council also rejected a specific set of proposed zoning rules for not going far enough.
The Cave City city council in Barren County, Kentucky, voted 4-1 to approve a one-year moratorium on data center applications. This temporary ban aims to provide local leaders with time to develop and enact specific zoning regulations for the data center industry, which are currently lacking in the city's ordinances.
Residents attending the council meeting voiced strong opposition to data centers, with some calling for a permanent ban on such developments in the Mammoth Cave region, citing concerns about impacts on tourism, agriculture, and the limited four-square-mile area of the city. Council member Leticia Cline, who is spearheading the moratorium efforts, emphasized the need for community discussion and the formation of a committee to address residents' questions and concerns about the industry's potential effects on local utilities, landowners, and the environment.
Despite the approval of the moratorium, the council also held a final vote to oppose specific new zoning rules related to water and electricity usage and limits on data centers near residential areas. Most council members felt these proposed regulations were insufficient. Mayor Dwayne Hatcher had previously recommended to the Joint City-County Planning Commission that data centers remain a permitted use on heavy industrial land, a stance Council member Cline opposed, arguing they should at most be conditional use properties to allow local government more control. No specific data center projects are currently proposed, but developers have approached city leaders.