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Ordinance committee backs text amendment to bar large data centers, some battery storage in Woodford County industrial zones
Summary
The Woodford County ordinance committee voted to forward a text amendment for first reading that would prohibit large data centers and higher-capacity battery storage (type 2) in I-1 and I-2 zones, citing farmland protection and recent state tax incentives for data-center development.
The ordinance committee recommended that the fiscal court draft and schedule a first reading of a text amendment to Article 7 that would prohibit large data centers and "battery storage type 2" in the county's I-1 and I-2 industrial zones.
"These additional industrial uses are prohibited in all areas of Woodford County," Steve Hunter, planning director, told the committee as he reviewed slides from a statewide training and a recent 2025 house bill that Hunter said made aspects of data-center development sales- and use-tax exempt statewide. Hunter said the amendment aims to clarify what constitutes an industrial use so prospective projects cannot be presented as retail or warehouse uses to evade zoning limits.
The judge and committee members framed the change as part of a broader strategy to preserve farmland. The judge said Woodford County's farmland is "some of the best in the entire world" and praised the planning commission's timely work. Squire Clark Gill moved that the ordinance committee recommend the amendment for first reading on Aug. 11; the motion carried in committee on a voice vote.
The amendment will move to the full fiscal court for consideration as a formal ordinance. The text forwarded by the committee contains definitions of data centers and two battery-storage system categories, allows smaller battery-storage systems (type 1) under conditional use permits, and places explicit prohibitions in specified industrial zone language.
