Residents urge caution, moratorium as Oldham County debates proposed hyperscale data center

Dozens of residents and a county constable urged the Oldham County Fiscal Court on May 20 to slow consideration of a proposed hyperscale data center near Highway 53, pressing the court to refer technical and legal questions to staff and to consider a moratorium while regulations are developed.

The appeals came during the public-comment period of the court’s May 20 meeting in LaGrange. Residents raised concerns about building heights, noise, heat and moisture emissions, water use, property values and the fairness of tax incentives. Several speakers asked the court to refer the project to the County Attorney and County Engineer, to assign the matter to the environmental/recycling/utilities and IT subcommittee for a report, and to consider a moratorium on new data-center proposals while zoning, planning and permit rules are clarified.

Why it matters: The project — described by speakers as “Project Lincoln” and promoted on a third-party website as the “Oldham County Data Center” — would introduce an industrial-scale facility into an otherwise rural, agricultural area according to neighbors. Residents said the county currently lacks clear definitions, permitting rules and mitigation measures for hyperscale data centers and urged the fiscal court…