Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use Rezoning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Meade County residents press fiscal court to uphold Planning & Zoning denial of Hobbs rezoning; court rescinds ordinance and imposes moratorium on data‑center‑s
Summary
Residents packed the Fiscal Court in Brandenburg to oppose rezoning of the Hobbs property and potential data‑center development; following hours of testimony the court accepted Planning & Zoning’s denial and voted to rescind the pending IT ordinance and place a temporary moratorium while staff rewrites protections.
BRANDENBURG — Dozens of Meade County residents packed the courthouse on the first reading of zoning map amendment 2025R‑091 for the Hobbs Living Trust, urging the fiscal court to uphold a unanimous denial by the Planning & Zoning Commission and to block any rezoning that would allow heavy utility‑intensive IT or 'data center' uses near homes.
Sydney Smith Durham, the county civil attorney, opened the process by reminding speakers that planning hearings and fiscal court decisions are separate and that members could give opinions but not submit new evidentiary material at the public‑comment stage. She said fiscal court could approve Planning & Zoning’s denial, schedule an evidentiary hearing, or table the matter for later action.
Residents delivering three‑minute comments raised environmental, property‑value and procedural concerns. “Don’t lie to us. Don’t keep us in the dark,” one speaker told the court, criticizing short notice and social‑media disclosure of the proposal. Several speakers said nearby wells had already suffered pressure drops after utility projects and argued a large IT facility could worsen groundwater, wastewater and noise conditions. Another frequent theme was the inability of veterans and families to refinance or buy homes if appraisals flag nearby industrial uses.
Opponents pointed to a pattern of hurried land‑use changes in other counties and asked for stronger local rules before any IT‑style project could proceed. The county civil attorney noted that planning had heard hours of testimony earlier and issued a denial; fiscal court was today’s decision point.
After public comment, magistrates debated options for the county’s draft IT/“IT infrastructure” ordinance. Some magistrates urged immediate denial of the draft as written and a 12‑month moratorium to give Planning & Zoning and staff time to craft detailed standards on siting, water and power demands, buffering, noise, and bonding for infrastructure impacts. Others said tabling could simply delay a needed policy and argued for prompt, legally defensible action.
The court voted to rescind the pending ordinance language as drafted and approved a moratorium on new IT/data‑center permit applications until the special November fiscal‑court meeting, to allow staff time to develop and present a revised ordinance and a work session with Planning & Zoning. The court also accepted the Planning & Zoning recommendation to deny 2025R‑091 (the Hobbs rezoning) in the procedural posture presented tonight; if the applicant requests a formal hearing, the court will schedule that hearing and provide notice under KRS procedures.
What’s next: staff and Planning & Zoning will draft revised ordinance language intended to define and regulate high‑utility IT and data‑center uses, set site‑plan and infrastructure requirements (water, wastewater, electrical load, buffering), and propose a moratorium timeline for court consideration at the special November meeting.
Council action on 2025R‑091 is recorded as a acceptance of Planning & Zoning’s denial in the record; the court left open the statutory right of the applicant to request an evidentiary hearing prior to a final binding development decision.
