E-Town Planning Commission sends data center amendment to City Council

A standing room only crowd was in attendance at the Elizabethtown Planning Commission meeting Tuesday evening as the commission considered a text amendment proposed by the city’s Planning and Development office concerning data centers.

Elizabethtown Planning and Development Director Aaron Hawkins said currently a data center would fall under existing definitions for a data processing center.

“If you look at the definition, it’s a lot older,” Hawkins said. “You can tell that this was written probably 25-plus years ago, and it has not been modified since because a lot of the items listed in that are no longer even relevant.”

Hawkins said the proposed amendment adds definitions recommended by the Kentucky League of Cities while also adding enforceable standards such as size limits, utility upgrade responsibilities, and closed-loop cooling systems. Data centers will also be limited to “accessory use.”

“So the way this is written, as these only being accessory uses, is you cannot have a data center on a lot by itself,” Hawkins said. “It would have to be affiliated with a permitted use in that zone.”

Planning Commission Chair Steve Rice said Elizabethtown can’t say a data center can’t come to the city, but they can regulate it, and he felt the proposed amendment gives the city protection before any proposals are made.

“This is a hot item, a very hot item,” Rice said. “Other communities have put moratoriums on it. I don’t think that’s going to work, so we’ve decided to be a little more proactive and take a stance on this, that we can protect ourselves in terms of what comes in here.”

The commission voted to recommend the city council approve the amendment.

In other meeting news, the commission also recommended approval for an application for construction of a cellular antenna tower to be located at 204 Ring Road. The city staff found the proposal is in line with zoning and development requirements, and an attorney representing TowerCo said the FAA said the tower will not be tall enough to require beacons.

An application concerning a Downtown District area-wide zone change was withdrawn, but Hawkins said the city is seeking more public input on the subject at public meetings to be held August 18 at the Pritchard Community Center and September 29 at the State Theater.

Tuesday’s meeting can be viewed in full on the City of Elizabethtown Government Facebook page.