Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use Data Center topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Fiscal court says zoning board, not court, will handle proposed data‑center land use; court pledges review
Summary
Public commenters asked whether fiscal court would decide a proposed data‑center project; Judge David Vogel said the Board of Adjustments will handle conditional‑use permitting under current county ordinance, and the fiscal court will conduct due diligence and hold public information sessions.
Public concern about a proposed data‑center project surfaced in public comment at the Oldham County Fiscal Court meeting on April 1, with residents asking whether the fiscal court would vote to approve or reject the development.
Blaine Anderson, who identified himself from LaGrange, asked the court whether the fiscal court would have a formal vote on the project. Judge Executive David Vogel and County Attorney briefed the room: under the county’s current zoning ordinance and based on information available to the county at that time, requests of the type expected for the project are routed to the Board of Adjustments for conditional‑use permitting rather than to fiscal court for a vote.
Judge Vogel said the court had not been the applicant and that officials had only recently learned of the proposal. Vogel said the fiscal court would nevertheless conduct due diligence: "We're taking a deep breath and we're going to make the best decision that we can as individuals for the county," he said, adding that the court would attempt to gather experts and public input before forming recommendations.
County Attorney told the court the position reflected the ordinance and that the posture could change if the applicant makes a different kind of filing. He said, "There has not been an application filed, so we don't know exactly specifically what's gonna get filed," and noted that a zoning or map amendment could change the review path.
Several magistrates urged patience and public engagement; the court indicated it will seek additional information and schedule public meetings for residents to ask questions once more facts and an application (if any) are available.
The session later moved briefly into executive session and the court authorized staff to hire a consultant for a special project. Those discussions were described in general terms during the public meeting; the judge did not identify specifics tying the consultant authorization to any particular applicant at the public session.
