Oldham County committee reviews draft data‑center regulations, asks for more revisions

The Oldham County Study and Review Committee spent most of its June 2025 meeting reviewing a draft ordinance that would regulate data centers, including where they may locate, how large facilities are defined and how to require decommissioning and mitigation measures.

Committee Chair Greg King opened the discussion, saying the draft — proposed for placement at Section 2 53 40 of the county regulations — had been under study for months and that staff hoped to forward a regulation to the planning commission for a July meeting. "So before you today, you have the proposed regulations for data centers," Ryan Fisher told the committee as he began a section-by-section presentation.

The committee heard detailed provisions and public comment, questioned several technical definitions, and asked staff to return with another draft rather than forwarding the document at this time.

Why this matters: The draft would create an explicit regulatory framework for a type of facility that can require large, continuous power and generate noise, visual and air impacts. Committee members and residents raised concerns about setbacks from homes, generator emissions and long‑term site cleanup if a facility is abandoned.

The draft would allow data centers only in C4, I1, I2 and IPD zoning districts and would require approval of a development plan by the Oldham County Planning Commission. It classifies facilities by size and electrical need, with staff proposing three classes: small (about 5,000–20,000 square feet; roughly 1–5 megawatts), medium (20,000–100,000 sq ft; roughly 5–50 megawatts) and large/hyperscale (greater than 100,000 sq ft or greater than 50 megawatts). Fisher said the draft ties the hyperscale…