LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB/WAVE) — A proposal to temporarily halt new hyperscale data centers in Louisville is one step closer toward approval.
The Louisville Metro Planning Commission voted 7-1 Tuesday to advance a proposed 180-day moratorium on new hyperscale data centers to the full Metro Council for a final vote.
The vote came just hours after Mayor Craig Greenberg called on both Metro Council and the planning commission to support the moratorium during his weekly press conference.
If approved, Greenberg said it will give the city more time to review its regulations around data center development.
"I want to make sure that during this interim period before those regulations pass, that we do enact this data center moratorium so there is no confusion to the public," Greenberg said. "...Today is the day that I think it's appropriate to call on Metro Council to pass these out of committee, move it on to the full council for their approval."
Data centers in the city have been at the center of months of public debate. The planning commission first proposed regulations in June that would ban hyperscale data centers larger than 500,000 square feet. It would also limit future data centers to industrial areas and require developers to meet standards meant to protect neighborhoods, infrastructure and utility customers.
Then, after reviewing over 3,600 public comments, the city proposed even stricter rules that most notably would require any large-scale data center to be built at least 500 feet away from "sensitive uses," including existing homes, hospitals, nursing homes, child care centers and schools.
As the moratorium vote heads to the council, it has largely bipartisan support, but many members continue to debate both the policy and the politics around it.
Following Greenberg's call to action, Councilwoman and mayoral candidate Shameka Parrish-Wright said in a statement Tuesday she has been openly calling for a moratorium but has "heard nothing"Â from any of her colleagues.
"It is interesting that after months of this ordinance languishing in committee after being tabled, and after weeks of poor publicity, the Mayor suddenly chose to take a position on data centers only after I called for this item to be returned to the table," Parrish-Wright said.
Councilman Stuart Benson, on the other hand, argued the benefits of a data center seem to outweigh the consequences.
"I don't see what everybody's talking about being negative," Benson said. "You know, they bring revenue in."
The city hosted its first public hearing last week to hear more from the public on the proposed regulations, with three more scheduled in the coming days:Â
- Wednesday, Aug. 5, at 5 p.m. at U of L Shelby Campus (450 N. Whittington Parkway)
- Thursday, Aug. 6, at 5 p.m. online. To join, visit the Upcoming Public Meetings page.
- Monday, Aug. 10, at 5 p.m. at the African American Heritage Center (1701 W. Muhammad Ali Boulevard)
Residents can attend any of the sessions and speak for up to three minutes.
Copyright 2026 WDRB Media and WAVE. All Rights Reserved.
