The Bowling Green City Commission has adopted zoning regulations for potential data center projects while, for a second time, rejecting a moratorium on the industry.
Kentucky’s third-largest city has given final approval to data center regulations, although no projects are currently being considered in Bowling Green.
The city commission voted unanimously Tuesday night to adopt a zoning ordinance that places restrictions on energy and water consumption, noise, and light pollution, among other things.
Bob Marley’s “Get Up, Stand Up” blasted on a speaker outside city hall as locals protested on the sidewalks. For this crowd, regulations aren't enough. They don't want a data center, period.
“The reason I’m out here, frankly, is because this is all about billionaires", said Sonja Griffith. “I’m tired of these dumb billionaires not shouldering their fair share of society’s costs, and this is just one more example.”
Phyllis Massingale, a member of the local advocacy group SOKY Indivisible, held a sign reading “you sell us out, we vote you out.” She shared myriad concerns, including the lack of jobs that data centers provide post-construction.
“Data centers, those are not stocked with people, those are stocked with machines,” Massingale said. “The jobs they’re creating are whoever’s building them. Once they’re built, security guards, that’s about it, some maintenance people. Not nearly enough.”
Demonstrators urged the city commission to impose a moratorium even though the governing body rejected a six-month temporary ban at a June 2 meeting.
Commissioners Dana Beasley-Brown and Carlos Bailey voted in favor, while commissioners Melinda Hill, Sue Parrigin and Bowling Green Mayor Todd Alcott voted against the temporary ban.
Parrigin explained her vote in an interview with WKU Public Radio.
“That’s reckless, because if we put a moratorium on a sector of the economy, that opens you up for legal issues, number one. Number two, that doesn’t stop a private company from selling their plant to a data center, regardless of a moratorium.”
The Bowling Green-Warren County NAACP issued a statement on social media during the meeting, also requesting commissioners reconsider a moratorium.
“A brief pause in the process does not imply that Bowling Green is closed for business, as was suggested at the last meeting,” the post read. “Rather, it demonstrates that community leaders care enough about the people they serve to ensure transparency, particularly on an issue of this significance.”
Last week, Warren County Fiscal Court Fiscal Court heard the first reading of a proposed zoning ordinance that mirrors regulations approved by the city. Judge-Executive Doug Gorman rejected any notion of a moratorium.
“It allows an existing building in heavy industrial to be sold and converted to a data center with zero restrictions or regulations,” according to a presentation by Gorman.
Warren County Fiscal Court is expected to take a final vote on the zoning ordinance at a June 25 meeting.
The regulations created by the city-county planning commission were pre-emptive, city commissioners emphasized. Some of the guardrails require data centers to cover the costs for utility needs, provide a 1,500-foot buffer to residential areas, and provide a plan for decommissioning those sites.
While the city has given final passage to the regulations, some local data center opponents feel shut out of the process. They highlighted statements made at the June 2 meeting by Commissioner Parrigin.
“The due diligence is done, but it’s done behind the scenes from the very professional people that we pay to do these things,” Parrigin said.
Parrigin argues the same professionals researching data centers have brought the region economic development wins, including the National Corvette Museum, Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center, Hot Rods Ballpark, Sloan Convention Center, and the Kentucky Transpark.
“How much does the public input into the industries and businesses that locate here currently? Planning and Zoning, our economic development folks, leadership across our community are in place to represent what’s in the best interest of the community,” Parrigin said. “The public has a role. First of all, they vote. They vote for leadership they believe will do things in the best interest of them and the community.”
The city commission heard from more than two dozen speakers before the governing body voted to adopt the regulations. Following the vote, Commissioner Dana Beasley-Brown reintroduced her ordinance calling for a six-month moratorium.
"We just listened to our residents and small business owners express valid concerns about your neighborhoods, your quality of life, and your rising costs," commented Beasley-Brown. "As a commission, our job is to listen before we act, and what we've heard from our constituents tonight is exactly why we have a duty to pause."
The measure failed, with three commissioners voting against it and two supporting it. That mirrored the vote taken at the commission's June 2 meeting.
The crowd erupted into chants of “vote them out!”
Parrigin said there will be an open house in the future with local professionals ranging from planning and zoning to utilities who will take questions from the community.
“Unequivocally, we do not have any data centers speaking to our community as of now,” Parrigin emphasized.
But, she added, city leaders are well-positioned to negotiate.
“Our professionals crafted the most comprehensive restrictions for a tech or data center wanting to locate here, in the country.”
