Louisville mayoral debate | Data center restrictions?
During a Louisville mayoral debate, Shameka Parrish-Wright called for a five-year moratorium and stronger zoning rules to prevent additional hyperscale data centers in Jefferson County. Mayor Craig Greenberg said he supports the existing six-month moratorium and proposed regulations before the Metro Council that would restrict hyperscale facilities while protecting residents, the environment and utility ratepayers.
Louisville mayoral candidates Craig Greenberg and Metro Councilmember Shameka Parrish-Wright debated the role of data centers in the city’s economic development. Parrish-Wright said Louisville has enough data centers and argued that industrial zoning rules should be changed to prevent additional hyperscale facilities, citing concerns about marginalized communities, environmental impacts and the limited public ability to influence projects already approved under existing zoning.
Parrish-Wright called for a five-year moratorium and detailed regulations that would permanently ban hyperscale data centers in Jefferson County. Greenberg said he supports the six-month moratorium currently in place and urged the Metro Council to approve regulations developed after thousands of public comments and six public hearings. The proposed rules were pending before the council, while Parrish-Wright disputed Greenberg’s role in advancing them and called for stronger protections.