Elizabethtown City Council & Planning Commission Joint Meeting on Data Center Regulations - July 14, 2026
Elizabethtown City Council & Planning Commission Joint Meeting on Data Center Regulations - July 14, 2026
The Elizabethtown City Council and Planning Commission held a joint meeting on July 14, 2026, for an educational training session on potential zoning text amendments to regulate data centers. The meeting began with the swearing-in of new Planning Commission member Corey Blunt. No votes were taken; the session was purely discussion-oriented to gather feedback from both bodies. A public hearing on the proposed text changes is scheduled for July 28, 2026, at 6 p.m.
Swearing-In of New Planning Commission Member
- Mayor swore in Corey Blunt as the newest member of the Elizabethtown Planning Commission. Blunt previously served on the Civil Service Commission and expressed interest in a role with a larger purpose. The oath of office was administered per Kentucky law.
Educational Training on Data Center Regulations
- Planning Director Aaron Hawkins presented staff research on data center regulations, initiated by a Planning Commission resolution earlier in 2026. The training covered current definitions, zoning allowances, and proposed text amendments.
- Current Definition: Data centers are currently defined as a "data processing facility" (over 20 years old), allowed by right in several zones (C2, C3, C5, I1, I2, MAZ). No data center applications have been received.
- Proposed Definition: A new, modern definition for "data center" was presented, along with four subtypes: co-location, enterprise, edge, and hyperscale.
- Proposed Zoning Changes: Staff suggested allowing only edge data centers in C2 (with a 10,000 sq ft cap), edge and enterprise in C3 and C4 (50,000 sq ft cap), accessory-only in C5, hyperscale as a conditional use in I1 (150,000 sq ft cap), all four types by right in I2 (no size limit), and edge/enterprise in MAZ.
- Use-Specific Standards: A list of 14 standards (e.g., minimum 2,500 feet from residential zones for centers over 50,000 sq ft, 200-foot perimeter setbacks, pre-treatment of cooling discharge, renewable energy requirements) was discussed. Staff representative Matt Hess suggested adding language that data centers cannot diminish utility capacity for existing customers.
Discussion Among Council and Commission Members
- Councilmember Bishop questioned whether data centers in downtown should remain accessory only; Hawkins confirmed the proposal limits them to accessory use (edge only) in C5.
- Debate arose over whether to retain subtypes or rely solely on square footage caps. Staff favored square footage for easier enforcement. Multiple members expressed preference for using square footage caps rather than subtypes.
- Several members voiced concerns about hyperscale data centers, noting their high resource consumption (electricity, water) and limited job creation. A consensus emerged to limit data centers to accessory uses in commercial zones (C2, C3, C4) and industrial zones (I1, I2), with no standalone principal data centers allowed.
- Discussion included whether to cap square footage citywide (e.g., 100,000 sq ft) to prevent hyperscale facilities. The group leaned toward making data centers accessory uses and researching typical square footage for accessory needs (e.g., banks, internet providers).
- The use-specific standards were deemed unnecessary if data centers are only accessory; Hawkins agreed to remove them.
- The Chair concluded that the consensus was to make data centers only accessory uses in all zones, with additional research on appropriate size caps, and to scrap the existing draft that included principal uses and multiple standards.
Public Comments
- Marta Martin, a policy analyst from Radcliffe (working in Elizabethtown), thanked the bodies for taking the issue seriously. She noted her experience with Louisville Metro's proposed regulations and expressed appreciation for the thorough approach. She stated that hyperscale data centers "make bad neighbors," pollute water and air, and urged careful regulation.
Key Outcomes
- No formal decisions or votes were taken. The meeting was a discussion to guide staff in revising the proposed text amendments.
- Staff will research typical square footage needs for accessory data centers (e.g., banks, internet providers) and return with revised proposals.
- A public hearing for the text amendment is scheduled for July 28, 2026, at 6 p.m. in the same chambers, where further public input will be accepted.
- Staff will remove the use-specific standards and subtypes from the proposal, focusing on accessory-only data centers with size caps.
Meeting Transcript
Test. Okay, we're good. Welcome everyone to Elizabeth Town City Council Planning Commission joint meeting for July 14th, 200 and 26. And I would ask if you would bow your head for invitation. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for everything that you give to us every day. We thank you for this beautiful community and all of our citizens that inhabit it. And if you would join me in the Pledge of Allegiance, I pledge allegiance to the blood of the United States of America. It's one, too. All right, very good. I want to introduce you all to Corey Blunt. He's our newest or was getting ready to be our newest planning commission member. I'm very proud to swear him in. He's been uh in our community for some time now. Nice young man with a great family that wanted to be involved and contacted me multiple times. He was on our civil service commission. But uh every time I spoke to him, he always told me, hey, find me something with a larger purpose, something that I can be more involved in. So I found him one. And this is this is quite the commission, as you all know. We I appoint to several boards, but this is one of our very most important, and uh we look forward to having him on this team, and we know he'll do a great job. But before he can do that, I have to swear him in. So that's what we're gonna do right now. So if you would raise your right hand. No, yeah, that this day came Corey Blunt, who was duly sworn to the oath of office of member of Elizabeth Town Planning Commission by being administered the oath of section 228 of the Constitution of Kentucky in words as follows. I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of this Commonwealth and be faithful and true to the Commonwealth of Kentucky, so long as I continue as citizen thereof, and that I will faithfully execute to the best of my ability the office of AfroSet according to law. And I do further solemnly swear that since the adoption of the present constitution, I being a citizen of this state, have not fought a duel with deadly weapons within the state nor out of it, nor have I sent or accepted a challenge to fight a duel with deadly weapons, nor have I acted as second in carrying a challenge, nor aided or assisted any person thus offending, so help me God. I do. Appreciate you. So now you're official. Yes, sir. Councilmember Bishop. Here Fulkerson here, Isaacs, Jones, Springsteen here, Tyler, Mayor. You have a quorum. Thank you very much. And we will get started as soon as Aaron tells me that he's ready. Thanks. So Aaron Hawkins, I will introduce you to him. He is our planning director, and he is going to address both bodies. All right, good afternoon, everybody. Um quick background of why we're doing this educational training today. Um earlier this year, planning commission passed a resolution uh directing staff to do some research on data centers and how those are currently regulated in the city of Elizabeth Town versus some potential regulation changes with how we look at data centers in the future. So staff and um administration sat in on a KLC uh training session via webinar back in June, and um two of the leaders of the planning industry in the state uh held that training and talked about both what the what the different jurisdictions are seeing in terms of data centers um in terms of requests and then also what their current regulations are, but then also uh nationwide, because as you know, data centers is a hot topic right now in terms of uh mostly because of utility usage and then also noise and environmental impact. So it's a concern nationwide, but uh one of the reasons why it's been such a hot topic in the state of Kentucky, primarily is multiple reasons. One is mainly uh because statewide for a lack of regulations. So the regulations data centers or on data centers is not very strong throughout the state. So that along with cheap utilities overall and cheap land cost have been uh have made Kentucky as a attractive place also because of proximity to transmission lines when it comes to electricity, uh, and then a lot of water availability. So all those factors um combined have made Kentucky a target for data centers. Um we have per KLC or per the research done. There are currently, I think it was 37 data centers in the state of Kentucky. Um and Jefferson County alone, I want to say made up around 20 to 23 of those data centers. So those obviously vary in size.
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