Oldham County looks to pause data center deals amid pushback over $6B project

LA GRANGE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Oldham County wants to press pause on data center projects, but a controversial proposal will continue to move forward even as residents overwhelmingly told their elected leaders Tuesday they oppose it.

Oldham’s fiscal court voted 9-0 to start a process that seeks to place a moratorium on the tech developments by freezing applications and related work for 150 days. The move would let county leaders update local planning standards for the fast-growing industry, among other things.

But Judge-Executive David Voegele made clear at a packed fiscal court meeting that the much-watched “Project Lincoln” planned for Ky. 53 isn’t affected because an application for its land-use change already has been filed.

“We don’t have the unilateral right to say, you know, ‘Take your application and walk,'" he said. "We have to go through the process of dealing with it. That's their legal right to do that.”

Still, Voegele has said he doesn’t support the project and believes the Oldham County board of adjustments won’t approve a permit developers need because the land isn’t zoned for a data center.

The vote came after nearly two hours of public comments largely about the Ky. 53 proposal. About 30 people spoke, with nearly all expressing concern or opposition to the 267-acre project planned north of La Grange.

New York-based Western Hospitality Partners - Kentucky LLC, or WHP, has filed plans for a hyperscale data center campus on land now zoned for agricultural and conservation use. It would have eight buildings filled with high-tech gear meant to process digital information.

The project has become a flashpoint in this county of about 70,000 people just north of Louisville since it was announced just over two weeks ago. Neighbors and other residents say they’re concerned that the rural location isn’t the right fit, and they warn of unknown environmental, noise and other effects.

“This whole project smells like Oldham County is for sale,” said Barry Laws. Alluding to the county’s slogan, he told the magistrates and Voegele: “This project is not quiet, and it’s not amazing.”

Nathan Oberg, who lives near the Project Lincoln site, is an organizer of the “We are Oldham County” Facebook page that has served as a forum for discussion of the proposed Oldham data center and the general industry.

Oberg told the fiscal court that opponents are “deeply concerned” about the Project Lincoln plan. He spoke in favor of a moratorium on data centers.    

“This is an outrage,” he said. “We need to have safeguards in place to protect our citizens, our rights and our property values, and this is what we're fighting for.”

A frequent criticism of the Ky. 53 project is the developers’ approach to getting county approval. WHP has hired Jim Urban, the county’s former planning director, as a consultant.

Data centers aren’t permitted on agricultural land in Oldham County. Instead of seeking a zoning change, the organizers are asking for a conditional use permit, or CUP, for the project – an exemption allowed for certain types of activities.

They are seeking to get approval for the data center under a category called “Private Utility Building and Facilities.”

Anita Travis Richter called on Oldham officials to use the expertise of residents who have quickly become educated about data centers.

“Let's be transparent,” she said. “Let's not try to have a consultant that knows where the loopholes are to get it through through a CUP.”

With the vote to consider a moratorium, two things are happening at once.

First, the Project Lincoln application is set to be considered by a county review board on May 21. It then would head to the board of adjustments in June.

Ryan Fischer, the county's director of planning and development, said all of the emails he’s received about the project – 985 as of Tuesday – will be part of that case file.  

Second, the county planning commission also will begin to discuss the moratorium, which ultimately would need fiscal court’s approval as an ordinance.

Data center developments have boomed across the U.S. in recent years, but they’ve only recently gained traction in Kentucky and surrounding areas.

Facebook parent company Meta is building an estimated $800 million data center in the River Ridge industrial park in Jeffersonville, Ind., while Louisville-based Poe Companies and a Virginia developer are working on a site near Shively.

Max Kepes, a WHP representative, said his group chose the La Grange-area site in large part because of its access to high-voltage power lines and other infrastructure.

Kepes told WDRB News last week that WHP is a “well-funded and well-capitalized company" with experience on a data center proposal south of Chicago in Braidwood, Illinois, and another venture in an unidentified part of the northeastern U.S. 

Project Lincoln’s supporters point to an economic impact study they commissioned that estimates the data center will generate more than $50 million in annual taxes for local agencies, with the county's public schools system as the biggest beneficiary. 

The study predicts overall construction employment of 4,000 workers annually over a five-year period and, once built, 176 direct jobs making $83,000 a year. 

The development team is hosting an open house Tuesday evening from 6-8 p.m. at City Place, 112 S. 1st Street in La Grange. 

Previous stories:

• Residents raise alarms about Oldham County data center plan
• Data center developer chose 'very suitable' Oldham County site after talks with LG&E
• Massive $6 billion data center campus proposed for rural Oldham County

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