Cave City officials divided over data center moratorium decision

CAVE CITY, Ky. (WBKO) - The Cave City Council voted against zoning amendments for data centers Monday night and agreed to a yearlong moratorium.

On April 30, the Cave City Planning and Zoning Board voted in favor of zoning amendments, but those amendments still require city council approval to take effect.

The company in question is Discovery, a data center developer eyeing Cave City for a potential facility.

Concerns over zoning language

“The current language made data centers of permitted use without going through the extra step, which is a conditional use property where they’d have to go in front of a board of adjustments to hear public output and also for Discovery to say exactly what their needs were to have a data center here,” Cave City Councilwoman, Leticia Cline, said.

Cline said, there was also vague language regarding water use and coordination with Cave City’s local water company.

“There’s nothing defined about if there is growth, if there is another data center or two or three more data centers, what that will look like for our infrastructure, our power grid, and our water system,” Cline said.

Cline also said the city was never given specifics on how many jobs a data center would create or what tax incentives might be offered to bring one here.

Moratorium enacted

“We enacted a moratorium, which means no data centers can apply for a permit for one year. You have to have two readings on that,” Cline said. “The whole year will give us time to be able to get the proper language, to inform the public, to see if this fits our comprehensive plan of the city.”

Those against the data center being built in Cave City say they are worried about factors such as how much water will be used, what the power grid will look like, and the effects it will have on the karst region, such as Mammoth Cave National Park.

Mayor supports data center development

Cave City Mayor Dwayne Hatcher said he believes newer data centers have improved when it comes to energy and water use, though he acknowledges he has limited knowledge of their operations.

“I’ve heard things like raising your electric and a lot of different things. Well, they have advanced so much, for the most part, the newer operations create their own electric. They have, they recycle water. Their water use is not near as much as it once was. Now, I agree, and I’ll be the first to admit, I know very little as far as their operation and that type of thing. So the answer to that is, there’s gonna be unknowns with any investment that comes into a community,” Hatcher said.

Hatcher said he would never support anything that would have negative impacts to the Cave City community.

“I asked our local planning and zoning board to leave data centers as a permitted use with restrictions and guidelines that we could be proactive,” Hatcher said.

Hatcher also said he wanted to implement this language for the protection of Cave City citizens.

“The rapid rate of data centers and in the area, whatever, they’re probably gonna be somewhere. So I wanted to put in guardrails for the protection of our citizens. Most citizens don’t look at it that way, looked at it as I was trying to push something down their throat, and that is so far from the truth as it can be,” Hatcher said.

Regarding the moratorium the council agreed to, Hatcher said he is not for that but agrees more information is needed.

“We didn’t have enough information, and rightly so. I mean, people should know. I need more information. But with the information I did have, I knew there was some possible hazards to the community, and that’s why I was pushing to put in the safeguards,” Hatcher said.

When asked about the future of data centers, Hatcher said, regardless of future information, he can see a data center in the area.

“I can see a data center in the area regardless of the information. They are looking in this entire area, our neighbors down the road and a lot of different areas. So all we can control is within our city boundaries,” Hatcher said.

Cave City Council will hold a second reading on the moratorium. Both sides say they hope the next year brings the answers and clarity Cave City needs before any decision is made.

A special-called meeting will take place Monday, May 18, at 5 p.m.