By GAGE WILSON
For Glasgow News 1
The Cave City City Council is expected to vote Monday, May 18, on a proposed one-year moratorium that would temporarily halt consideration of applications for IT infrastructure facilities and data centers within city limits.
City Attorney Bobby Richardson said the measure is narrowly defined and intended as a pause rather than a prohibition.
“In essence, the moratorium would prevent any consideration of an application for a IT facility or data center in Cave City for [one] year after adoption of the ordinance, if adopted,” Richardson said. “I know of no potential litigation. As far as I know there is no applicant for such a facility.”
The Monday vote will be a first reading of the moratorium ordinance. There would be a need for a vote on a second reading of the ordinance for it to take effect. The Monday meeting is special-called, which means only items on the agenda can be acted upon. As of Thursday afternoon, the agenda for the meeting had not been posted.
Across Kentucky, similar moratoriums and review periods have increasingly become a common first step as local governments respond to growing statewide interest in large-scale data center development.
Meade County, for example, adopted a 12-month moratorium earlier this year on new data center and IT infrastructure applications, specifically to allow time for updates to zoning ordinances and comprehensive planning documents. County officials there said existing regulations did not adequately address the scale or impacts of modern data center projects.
This particular approach was the inspiration for the Cave City moratorium as during Monday evening’s meeting councilwoman Leticia Cline submitted the Meade County ordinance to Richardson after making her motion to adopt a similar strategy.
In Louisville, Metro Council recently reintroduced a temporary moratorium on data center-related zoning and permitting while awaiting updated recommendations from its planning commission, reflecting a similar “pause and study” approach seen in other jurisdictions.
That pattern mirrors broader plans being developed in the Commonwealth’s policy circles. The Kentucky Resources Council has published model zoning language aimed at helping local governments regulate data center siting, infrastructure demands, and land-use impacts –- tools many counties have cited as they begin drafting or revising ordinances.
Closer to home, Cave City is not alone in moving toward a temporary pause. Morgan County commissioners approved a six-month moratorium last month while they evaluate potential standards and community impacts tied to data center development.
Richardson added that the local proposal is precautionary in nature, with no active applications currently under review and no known pending development proposals tied to IT infrastructure facilities.
