The moratorium temporarily halts the acceptance of zoning map changes in Fayette County for the “express purpose of creating a data center,” the acceptance and review of data center development plans and the issuance of any permits necessary for data center operation. It’s in effect through Oct. 31.
A resolution introducing the moratorium was fast-tracked by council members, who voted to suspend council rules and pass the resolution the same day it was put on the docket.
The council also passed a second resolution directing the Lexington Planning Commission to initiate a zoning text amendment focused around data center policy.
The commission has already been considering new language for how the city zones and regulates data centers as part of its Blue Sky Small Area Plan. That includes a regulation on size and calls for discussion on environmental protections. The plan would prohibit data centers larger than 50,000 square feet from being constructed in industrial zones.
Last week, data center company DartPoints announced it had acquired a property in north Lexington formerly owned by Lexmark. It plans to expand the property to accommodate cloud and AI computing. The property is already fully zoned for data center use, and has around 81,000 square feet of existing data center space, according to a release.
“We found out when the public found out,” said District 5 council member Liz Sheehan, who introduced the resolution. “It is speeding up our timeline just a little bit, but again, we were already on a timeline to have things passed by October, so this is not drastically different than the timeline we were originally working on.”
Sheehan said the moratorium would give the planning commission the time to develop those regulations and collect public input.
“Some of the uses that might have fallen under computing aren't necessarily modern computing, because our zoning ordinances were written, sometimes decades ago, so there is this push to modernize,” she said.
Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton has said she is in favor of tight regulations on data centers developed in Fayette County, and does not support public incentives for the DartPoints project. She released a statement Tuesday afternoon following the vote.
“They do not produce many jobs, and have the potential to increase utility costs on local residents, as well as other concerns. I support very tight controls,” she said.
WEKU has reached out to DartPoints asking how the moratorium would affect its project. The planning commission is scheduled to discuss data center regulations at a Thursday meeting.
Elsewhere in Kentucky, Cave City in Barren County has been sued by real estate developer Kentucky Industrial Alliance over its own data center moratorium. Louisville lawmakers have proposed their own ban on hyperscale data centers and Bowling Green recently rejected a moratorium of its own.
