Planning Committee - Regular Meeting

I'll start by reading our opening statement. This is the special public hearing of the Louisville Metro Planning Commission to hear case number 25, LDC-0014, proposed land development code amendment related to data centers as advertised and documented for hearing today. Public notice has been provided and materials have been available for review by the public. The following rules are in place for today's hearing. Please silence all cell phones. Please be courteous and respectful to the Commission and your fellow citizens. Any disruption from the audience can result in removal from the meeting by the Chair. Today's proceedings are being recorded. Anyone wishing to address the Commission must do so from the podium. If you plan on speaking, please fill out a speaker's form as soon as possible. Priorities shall be given to speaker cards in the order that they are received. Only those who have completed speaker forms will be allowed to speak. Any person wishing to speak on the proposed land development code amendment shall have a total of no more than three minutes per person. Speakers are not allowed to cede their time to other speakers. We ask that you please give your name and zip code of your residence prior to making your comment. The Commission may ask questions of a speaker at any time. In order to focus on testimony, the Commission and staff will not respond to any questions from speakers during the public hearing. If you have any questions, please contact the staff member after the conclusion of the public hearing. Speakers may leave the public hearing after completing their comments. Please note, once a speaker makes comments, they will not be allowed to speak again tonight or at any of the preceding public hearings on this matter. Today's hearing will proceed as follows. Staff will present a summary of the request. Any person wishing to speak on the proposed land development code amendment should have a total of no more than three minutes per person. At the conclusion of the testimony, the planning commission will be continued. indicates that the next scheduled meeting, which will take place on Wednesday, August 5th, 2026, at the University of Louisville Shelby Campus, Founder Union Ballroom, that's located at 450 North Linden Parkway. This meeting will begin at 5 p.m. There will not be a final vote on this matter this evening. And just as a note, we have a hard stop as well at 9.30 due to the pandemic.

I'm going to ask the staff to stand so I can swear you in.

you swear in front of the testimony that you're going to give this commission is the truth yes thank you once again we're here for a public hearing of 25 ldc0014 which is a text amendment to the lane development code the project name is data center and the applicant is louisville metro our case manager is joseph paperman i'll turn it over to you

Good evening, everyone.

Can everyone hear me? Okay.

So tonight we're just going to hear about attachment, and I'm going to give a high-level overview and give you some resources, give you some more information if you want to follow along with it. To start, this is an item that Metro Council asked the Office of Planning and Planning to take a look at. They wanted us to review the data center regulations, see what some other cities are doing, and come back with some recommendations on how to improve the regulations. So this isn't about any particular project. This is about the regulations that would apply to all projects moving forward. So most people here are probably familiar with what a data center is. You're uncertain. It's a building that houses computer hardware that stores and processes digital information. So basically a building with lots of computers. It's a little bit more technical than that, but that's probably the most sensitive . So these facilities are needed for modern digital services and they include some accessory elements So this slide, which might be difficult to read, you might hear about a bunch of different types of data centers. The takeaway from this slide is there are a bunch of different types. So if you first come in one data center, just be aware that that might not be common for all types of data centers. So just to kind of go over some of the big differences, because we have to look at each of these as we look at the regulations. Some are owned and operated by a single organization for their own purposes. Those tend not to be large, but they can be in some cases, if it's a larger company. Some are basically shared data centers. Several companies that don't want to have their own data center have what's called a co-located data center, where they rent space within a building with other users. So they might only be a fraction of the overall users, but they can have a lot of users in the co-located or just a few. The idea is that you're sharing, and that's usually run by a third party. And the final one, which a lot of people see.

Can you talk loud?

We can't hear you. I will try to speak as loud as I can. The other type is called a hyperscale, as most people use it, that term. That is usually a larger data center that is used a lot of times for AI cloud services. And those tend to be the really big ones that you read about. So this map, don't pay too much attention to it. It's just a website that we can direct you to. But a lot of people have asked, are there data centers here in Louisville? And the answer is yes. There are several data centers already here. There's just not any large ones other than the one that was recently approved and under development. So the big ones that you hear about aren't really here. But we do have several data centers across Jefferson County at the right now. So how do we regulate them now? This is just to give you a basic understanding of why we are making these changes. So right now, our code does not use the term data center, except in one reference, and I'll touch on that in a second. So it's not in use in our code. So if you want to look at our code and see where a single family residence is allowed, that term is used. It's very specific about where it's allowed. So the way we've been reviewing data centers is under a use called telecommunication hotel. And staff understands that data centers have evolved since that use was put into code, and that's why we're making these recommendations on how to update the code and regulate data centers differently. But for now, that's how we regulate them, because they fall under that broad use type. That use is primarily allowed in our industrial zone districts and a commercial district called C3, which is largely downtown. But it's also permitted by right. And what that means is they can just do it without any public hearing, any special approvals that are required for the use. So that's how the existing code reads. Now, we're recommending changes to that, so don't focus too much on that. We're more interested in what you feel about the changes, but that's where we're starting from. And I'll just also note that some data centers are regulated a little bit differently. For example, accessory data centers, if it's attached to the organization and their facility, it's an accessory use. And it's allowed just as part of that principle use. And there's also a reference in our code. If you search our 800-page code, the data center shows up one time. And it's for use that is called an underground space use. And that's a special type of conditional use that's allowed in underground caverns. So it's only allowed in that very narrow circumstance, but that wasn't intended to be the only place where data centers were allowed. They contemplated that when they wrote that commission to use that. So what has been the process? A lot of people in this room are familiar with what we have done so far. But just in case you have not, we began this process late last year where we had a series of community meetings and forums where we just listened to people and heard their ideas. There were five of those across Jefferson County. And we also had an online meeting. So that's been completed. The staff began to develop and draft changes. We kind of had to put a hold on that because the state was entertaining some changes to the state vault. And whatever we do here, you have to follow state vaults. So we had to wait and see how that developed. And then now we released the regulations. We did a public comment period. Many people here probably submitted some comments. We took a look at those and made some revisions. But now we have a draft before the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission is the public hearing, not just for Metro Council, but also for 12 suburban cities that have their own zoning codes. So this is intended to be your opportunity to make comments directly to the Planning Commission and this is all being recorded and the legislative bodies including Metro Council can come back and watch these hearings when they make a final decision. But to be clear, the Planning Commission and staff are only making recommendations. Staff recommendation that many of you have seen can evolve as we go through this hearing process. So give feedback about what you like and don't like about the ordinance, and that's something that can lead to some changes to it through the Planning Commission, and ultimately Metro Council and those suburban city councils and commissions can make further changes based on how they receive the public comment and what they want to do. So, again, I touched a little bit on the public engagement we've done. We didn't just write this without meeting anybody. We received over 7,000 written comments alone. And that doesn't count all the people that we talked to about the issue and met with. But we had those five community meetings. We did an online survey where we got some feedback from that. We've had an online comment form that's been up since January where we've received thousands and thousands of comments on that. And finally, we have these public hearings over the next couple of weeks where we'll see the final real input that we can have as part of this process. So I'm going to go over the staff recommendation. If you can't scan this QR code, we have it out front and you can scan it out front. Basically it will take you through specific changes and you can see them as they are struck through and underlined to the existing one. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail with this because the intent of this is really here for you and we want to make sure that you set aside enough time. to hear from everybody. And we're under the understanding, based on the comments received, most people have read these.

So I'm not going to go through them line by line. I can't hear you.

All right, I'll try to speak louder. Hey, hey, excuse me. You cannot yell from back there. You can't hear from down front. I can hear from down front.

Stop. Hey, I'm asking everybody to stop.

We won't get through this if we just start doing all this talking. We got to thank you. I'll exchange our mics with them. Stop. Everybody, hold on.

I'll try to take some. Is this any better? This is great. You can hear me now. Thank you. All right, is this any better? Yes.

None of that clapping. Hold on. Hold on for one second.

This is a public hearing. This is not a basketball game. I don't want to hear from the gallery. If you're not standing at that podium, I don't expect to hear from you. So please, please, please, no talking.

All right.

So on this again, I'm going to go over these regulations at a higher level. Again, if you want to see the regulations at their fine detail, we can provide you a way to look at that. But what they do is four things. First, they permitted future data centers exceeding 500,000 square feet. So currently, there is no cap. So that's the first thing that the regulations are, is establish a cap. And they allow data centers smaller than 500,000 square feet that tend to support existing employers and business needs within the community, but we do so in more appropriate areas based on their size. So it's not the same as what I showed you on the previous slide in terms of where they're allowed. So we restrict data centers that are over 250,000 square feet to only a single zoning district. And three, that is the highest intensity industrial district we have. Again, just going back so that we understand where we're coming from. Currently, data centers are permitted in any industrial zone regardless of their size. The data centers between, and those also require conditional use planning, and that's an important part that I should elaborate a little bit on. That means a public hearing and a discretionary review which can be done by the Planning Commission if it's tied to a rezoning or by the Board of Zoning Adjustments. So people will have an opportunity to provide their comments and thoughts on that application and you can't be denied it. or approved with conditions that mitigate your concerns. Data centers that are between 50,000 and 250,000 square feet would be committed, and industrial areas that are largely medium in intensity, so that's easy, 1, M2, M3, and PEC, in addition to M3, which is not on this slide, that. But they would be held with special standards. If they do not meet any of those standards, then they need that conditional use time, and they would have to have a public hearing. So the only ones that could be approved as this recommendation is written is if they meet every single one of the requirements. Then finally, we would only permit data centers that are less than 50,000 square feet to any industrial area. which is typically where they're allowed now, with one exception in C3, which is a commercial district largely downtown, that would allow a data center that's used for telecommunication purposes by an organization overseen by the FCC. So that's more restrictive than the current requirements. So what we're trying to do here, and these are high-level overviews of some of the regulations, but the first is protect utility customers by requiring evidence that the new facilities will not ship any costs to existing taxpayers in terms of largely electric and water utilities. Require the developer presenting the proposal to bear the cost of any improvements if upgrades are required. Limit data center development to designated areas, which I touched on previously. require environmentally low impact and site design practices which we you saw the previous draft we made some improvements to those to make them more clear as to what we were looking for there and then require separation from homes schools daycare facilities nursing home hospitals and other residential structures so there's built-in separation of Just remind everybody that the zoning that they're allowed in is industrial and typically that zoning district type does not allow residential, so this would be in cases where an industrial district is next to a residential zone or potentially a residence inside of an industrial district. We would also require a public hearing condition use permit for data centers to not meet any of the standards that are set forth. I touched on that before. We would establish noise standards and buffering requirements for generators and other equipment. We would require the entity making the proposal to be transparent and disclose the company that is going to be using the proposed development. And finally, if permitted by federal and state law, we would require that they pay prevailing wages for the project's construction. So with that, we want to focus again on the testimony. If you have any questions about the ordinance, Again, we have this QR code out front. You can scan this QR code or the one out front, and staff will respond back to you with an answer to whatever question that you may have. So I'll turn it over to the chair, and we can hear some public testimony. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll just start with our speakers. Once again, remember that you will have three minutes. I'm going to ask you, I'll call your name, of course, and then I'll ask you to state your full name and your zip code. Now, state your full address and write your name for me so I can swear you in. Dr. Williams, you are first, so you can state your full name, address, and your zip code for me. I'm going to give your full name and your zip code for me.

I'm Dr. Lawrence H. Williams, Jr., and my zip code is 40218.

Thank you. Any words of writing for me? Do you swear to affirm that the testimony that you're going to give to this commission is true? Yes. I thank you. I have three minutes. Sure. Again, I'm Dr. Lawrence H. Williams, Jr.

the founder and chief architect of Dynamic AI Laboratories. And to give a little bit of credibility as to who I am and why I'm talking today is because, number one, I have a PhD in integration engineering, also a post-doctorate from Wharton in AI infrastructure and maximum compute computation. And I'm here for two reasons. Number one, I want to make sure that we keep the integrity of the hyperscaler project in Robertown. Not from the standpoint of, I'm not here to speak on behalf of a hyperscaler. I'm here to speak on behalf of the interests of the city. I want to piggyback a little bit off of what Joe mentioned. A hyperscaler is in itself a different category of data center. And the data center is about being able to have your devices run, being able to get your information to your phone, being able to get your searches that you want, and things of that nature. Yet a hyperscaler gives you the capability, we're talking about the capability of doing research to solve cancer. I am one of the far most AI infrastructure and mass compute experts in the world. I think I rank number 20 now. And for each paper, the way that it works is, for each paper that you get peer reviewed, you get to move up, so I may have moved up now. My main concern is not being able, if we scale down the hyperscaler in Brooktown, that we will not be able to benefit from GPU clustering. And I'm sure that very few have even heard of GPU clustering. GPU clustering is back to those things that will change Louisville from being the city that it is today to being a smart city, a true smart city. A city that, again, may be able to claim the cure for cancer. Okay. Applications that you don't agree with.

I think it's time. Thank you. Regina? Regina, if you're going to speak, I see your note here. I believe you state your full name, that's first name and last name, along with your zip code, and then I'll support you.

Regina Fowler, 40299. Raise your right hand for me.

You swear upon the testimony that you're going to give to this commission as a truth? Yes. I thank you. You can proceed. You have three minutes.

I forgot my reading glasses. Can you hear me okay? So we'll use my light that helps me go up? Okay.

My name's Regina. I'm a Louisville resident and a small business owner. I appreciate the work that you've done so far on the proposed regulations. And I think the regulations are the most important piece here.

And what you've done acknowledges the centers

have real impact on our neighborhoods and our infrastructure and our environment. But we owe the residents more. Some large data centers can use upwards of 50 million gallons of water a day. to be smaller. But I think once we pass some of these regulations, larger ones will be built and we could run into problems that we can't go back. But 50 million gallons of water a day for cooling, even if one facility uses less, we have to ask, what happens when there are many of them? Is that sustainable, renewable, over the next 20, 30, 50 years? Where will the water waste go if chemicals or cooling fluids are used? How will that water be treated and disposed of? We need clear answers before moving forward. I have a family with lung disease who live near the campground road facility, and I myself have asthma. Louisville already struggles with quality of air. Because we live in a river valley, pollution can become trapped. We need to understand that long-term health impacts before we approve projects of this scale. I'm also asking for temporary residents, wait, hold on, sorry, for transparency. Residents deserve to know who ultimately owns and operates these facilities, who is responsible for the environmental or infrastructural problem, if it occurs, and who will be responsible. I respectfully ask you to place a moratorium on approving these new large-scale data centers, or any of the data centers, until some of these questions have been answered and enforceable protections are in place. We owe local residents careful planning and not rushed decisions. Thank you for your time.

Good morning, it's Zip Code and I'm swimming.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

My name is Lori Phillips, the code 40272 in Louisville. Lori, can you hear me? Yes.

You swear upon the testimony that you're going to give to this commission as the truth? Yes. All right, thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for your all's time. Thank you for being here. I really appreciate it. I understand everyone's concerns as far as where we're at right now. So it seems as if we would have been not proactive, and that's where my concern is. I want us to be more proactive than reactive. Another concern that I have is that, as you mentioned, the hyperscale's not here yet. So what are we going to do prior to? We need to be proactive to think about the hyperscales because we don't know AI here. We know it's not going anywhere. But we want to make sure that we are thinking of the community's health. I don't want to hear much of the community's health that's being thought about. And there's so many places in Kentucky that doesn't have humans in places, that we can provide them opportunities, that has water, that has the grounds. So I'm just kind of curious as to why we're not choosing those locations versus 500 feet within a nursing home in schools. And heavens forbid if there was something to occur as a tragic incident, explosion, whatever. And as we had UPS flight that happened, the air, that traveled so many, like all the way to Indiana. It was 20 more than 500 feet. So my concern is we need to think long term, but we need to definitely make sure that we're being proactive in how we can help the betterment of the community's health. that's getting plenty impacted for this. But holding the AI companies accountable for the water, for the electric bills as well. That concerns me too. I know that we're wanting to say they will do it, but until we really know what's really going to happen, we know things will change. And I just want to make sure that we are putting ourselves in a better light on our residents and putting us first. The last thing I also wanted to mention is whenever they go to do the maintenance on these facilities, I don't know if it's like two years maintenance. I know the water's getting recycled again. But you have to do the maintenance. All those chemicals that are within that, what are they going to do to the maintenance? What happens to that? So that's my concerns. I greatly appreciate your all's time and also for having us here.

So thank you so much.

And because I've been sworn in, I'd like to say that my comments today are paraphrasing from someone else who has been fighting data centers in Pennsylvania.

And the point was made that an amendment should be brought up, a decommissioned clause, a bond with the city and this company that wants to build the data center. Before it opens the data center, I feel like it must put up the money or finance shutting down the facility should it not be profitable. And I feel like companies should be responsible for any cleanup that should happen should the facility close. Actual month, not a promise, not a handshake, not a strongly worded letter from their vice president. So when the company says this isn't profitable anymore, taxpayers do not get handed a giant industrial mess and demolition bill. I feel like we should require this decommission clause. And beyond that, I'm not for the State Center or any data center. And I'd like to think that we're paying attention and we're not paying billionaires.

Yeah. Thank you, Huawei.

So my name is Lee Bay, 40245.

Number one, I want to thank you guys for checking this out.

I'm here because of AI data centers. I have worked my whole career until I retired at Duke Energy and Electronic Data Center. We had regular sort of run-of-the-mill data centers. Those aren't a problem. In my mind, the AI data centers are a problem. And these are the reasons why. And I think that we really, I think that however long you guys see fit to say, no, we're not going to allow anybody in until we get these rules down so you're all comfortable. That's what I would suggest doing. Because there's a lot to them. And I think as time goes on, we're finding these out. Right now, everybody, they're just putting them in as fast as they can because they know that we don't know. But soon we will. But things that are starting to come out, like energy consumption. This new one in the West Louisville, it's 1.6 million square foot one, about 400 megawatts of power. That's equivalent to what you need to power 400,000 homes. And if I read this right on the internet, that's more home units than what we had in 2024. So that's like double what Louisville would need to run this data center. So I say, where are we going to get all this power? Where are we going to get the grid? Where are we going to need? You know, there's a lot of components for putting energy out to anywhere. As I said, I work for Duke Energy, so I'm kind of familiar with it. So anyway. There's that, and there's water consumption. And somebody already mentioned this. These gigaprocessors run so hot. They require cooling that is done with the use of lots of water. Somebody mentioned 50 million gallons a day. That is potentially a huge impact to us. So for both electricity and water, it seems like they should pay extra for that stuff. And then the other thing, this is probably a very huge concern that you don't really think about, but if you ever thought about, I think I said in your draft, maybe 200 feet away from one of these, that's not enough of a buffer. They say a human can tolerate 70 decibels in a 24 hour period, that's it. Then they need a break. This is all day, all night, 7 by 24. It never goes away. So 200 feet is just not going to cut it. There's a noisy generator outside of here. And speaking of generators, those give off so much pollution in the air. And I heard somebody talk about she has asthma. That is a very real concern when you have generators running, because they're using oil. And I know my time's almost up, so I will just say, Let's not be too fast. Let's make sure we know all the facts. And this is a huge topic, so it should be pretty good to do that.

Thank you.

STATE'S PLANNING ADDRESS IS ZIPPEL. JOHN MORINK, BOARD OF 258. THANK YOU.

DO YOU SWEAR AND FIRM THAT THE TESTIMONY THAT YOU'RE GOING TO GIVE TO THIS COMMISSION IS TRUE? YES. THANK YOU.

I'M GOING TO START OFF WITH THE CONSTITUTION. BEN FRANKLIN SAID, WHEN YOU GIVE UP YOUR LIBERTY, YOU SHALL NOT HAVE SECURITY. Okay, that's number one. Okay, so we're giving up our liberty to go ahead and put these prisons' data centers in and go ahead and consume everyone. That's number one. And for every email that's sent out on these data centers, it uses three quarts of water. That's gonna be polluted, and it's nothing to be used on. So it's going to be a waste of water. That's all it's going to be. And then we're about the jobs. Where's all the jobs going to be? The jobs will be in the construction of these places. And that's it. After that, the data centers run on their own basically. There's only a half dozen, a dozen people running them after that. And that's it. So that's all I have to say.

Professor Hubei. Full name and zip code please. Veronica Hubei. So we have the data centers use tremendous amounts of energy. And that has to come from some place. So whether it is generated outside or from our utilities,

That is currently being generated by fossil fuels. Fossil fuels mean emissions. That has a tremendous impact on climate and on local air quality. That's going to reduce particulate matter, and there is no safe amount of particulate matter that people could be exposed to. So it's going to have health impacts for local residents, for our community, and it's going to have climate impacts for everyone. So I think until these data centers can demonstrate that they can be good neighbors and generate their power in a carbon neutral way, we can't divide them into our communities.

Thank you.

Let me get to the mic. The first thing, a lot of stuff has already been mentioned that I want to talk about, but the water consumption is a big concern, of course.

I mean, we should have a way to reuse that water, put it back into the system. I know it's got chemicals in it once they use it, but those chemicals are going to have to be filtered out some way, or we just can't sustain that type of usage. Another thing is, and I heard this mentioned too, with the speed of technology, these data centers in 10 years may be obsolete. There may be other ways of doing this. And we need these data centers to set up a reserve showing that they're going to set aside money to deconstruct or reconstruct these for purposeful use in case they are abandoned in the future. And then I realize that, and everyone in this room does too, that China doesn't care about their residents or where they put these. And we are up against them in the race for world domination. So we need to consider that. But we do need to consider our safety as well. And that's really all I have to say.

Melody Sterling.

Melody Sterling, 40272. Bring the record in for me.

Do you swear to affirm that the testimony that you're going to give to this commission is true?

I do.

Thank you.

I've heard that most people would rather live next to a nuclear power plant than a data center. I do not want to live anywhere near a data center of any kind, and I think that if they have any here, that they should offer a five-nap at the assessed value of the house of anybody within five miles. It's because of the noise, it's because of the pollution, it's because of the energy use, the water use, and all the other dangers associated with data centers. I am very angry that the big one is being built in one of the poorer parts of Louisville. Why is it not in prospect? Let's take care of the people who don't know about money. I am a BS I'm a chemist from the University of Delaware. I know about water treatment.

I know about these things.

I'm a BS chemist from the University of Delaware. I know about water treatment. I know about chemical treatment of water and things. I don't think that saying solemnly that we can cure cancer with an anti-center should appeal to us. It's going to cause cancer and cause abuse. The people who are poor in this city deserve housing where they need the facilities and the things that serve them, not something hard like a data center.

And when you get to the mic and you state your full name and your zip code, then I'll raise your right hand and I'll swear to you. Lottie Calvert, 12272. Regent and Mayor, do you swear to affirm that the testimony that you're going to give to this commission is true? I do. Thank you.

Bear with me, I don't have any more questions. I would like to see, I know it was brought up about jobs, so I would like to see, in my background, I speak quite a bit on behalf of the renewable energy projects across the state and across the region to the Public Service Commission. And so I do have a couple of questions. I didn't see in your presentation anything about decommissioning. I know on most large-scale utility projects, almost virtually all of them put down a bond. That way, 30, 40 years from now, when they're decommissioned, that bond goes to restore the, if it's agriculture, it goes to restore the agriculture land back to the previous way it was before they did the project. So I didn't see that up there. I would like to see that in some of the changes that you do in the code. Also, I would like to see where you guys could require these data centers to also generate your own power, such as putting a large scale utility solar project on site. I know the one in Mason County, they're trying to propose that as well. A large scale solar project to help take up the energy use that wouldn't be sucked off the grid. And then also I would urge you guys to look at what the state of Minnesota did in terms of labor provisions. Because if we're going to do this, I understand it's very unpopular. But if we do have to have them, I would like to see good paying construction union jobs. So requiring responsible bidders language, requiring federal prevailing wages that would apply. Also community benefit agreements or community benefit funds to where The developer pays into a fund, and those funds go towards the community in which the project is being built. And that stuff, that could go towards disadvantaged businesses, disadvantaged folks.

Is it okay if I get my phone down?

Yes ma'am

Catherine Overton, 40211.

You can raise your right hand for me.

Do you swear by the testimony that you're going to give to this person? Yes. I think you have three minutes.

I think I was going to be able to speak, so I don't have an actual, I'm sorry, I'm nervous. I live within a five mile radius of this data center. From what I understand, it's already being built on Cameron Road. And to my knowledge, that will Diminish the value of our properties within the value of our radius. And also, the LG&E Low Gas Electric has already asked for an $11 increase per month, per household, in addition to what we're already paying. That's $132 in a year increase on our electric bills. Now, I'm a senior citizen. I'm 72. I live on fixed income, retired. And we do not want these data centers. And in addition to everything that everybody's already said, I'm mainly concerned about the moratorium, which I hope is already in place, where they're delaying any kind of building that they're doing, any additional building, without going through and checking the regulations and codes. I'm trying to find some information I have. And these data centers cannot be healthy for the environment. The trees, the land, the air. If I have to continue to live near this data center, I don't know how I would exist. I've had two total knee replacements. I have arthritis, but I'm trying to stay mobile. But if this is going to diminish the environment, I don't know what's going to do to my health. Not just my health, I mean good health compared to a lot of the seniors that are living in this area. I'd like to bring that to the attention and hopefully, you know, we can slow down all of this that's going on.

Cynthia House, 40216.

Raise your right hand for me. Please swear by the testimony that you're going to give to this commission. Sure. Thank you.

I'll piggyback off of Mr. Overton and another gentleman back there who talked about constitutional rights. It seems like to me more and more people are in positions to make decisions for us and they're not making the best decisions. I don't know why, you know, whether it's selfishness or what, but... Our constitutional rights are not challenged, they're broken. Spiritually, there are a lot of people in positions to make better decisions for all people, but for some reason, like I said, I don't know the reasons people are choosing to make choices, decisions, and changes that are not for our betterment, but are leading more and more to our downfall as humans. A lot of the statements are not made spiritually. There are a lot of people who don't believe in the God of the Bible and stuff like that. They don't want to talk about spiritual stuff. But, you know, some people don't believe in that. I just happen to believe there is. So I look to a bigger and better maker and the people here on this earth. But I do think that people should make divine decisions when it comes to, you have a chance to make decisions for a lot of people, a lot of people involved, but sometimes I don't think that we consider the opinions of a lot of people. We have a chance here today to be heard, but I don't know how many people really are going to hear and act on what they're hearing, you know what I'm saying? So if you all really are the people, whoever this message is going to, that can really make some changes that are going to endure, you know, instead of killing people, let's give people a chance to live. I go to a senior center every day. We need more funds so that senior centers can thrive, so that seniors will have somewhere healthy to go and have activities and food that we can eat. There are other places where our money needs to go other than the Dallas Center. A lot of the seniors, of course, are dying because we can't adapt to the new instruments and stuff like that. You know, my mom, she just gave up when she couldn't, when she couldn't go on television. She just gave up living. She had to give up the things that she liked. So anyway, I'm just saying that people in these positions, you know, really need to consider real, real opinions of other people, what it really takes for people to live and thrive and continue to live. You know, God just doesn't want us to curl up and die. He wants us to have a reason to live and we all can continue

One man in zip code, please. Ron Schneider, uh, 4-0-1-2.

2-0.

You can raise your right hand for me. You swear upon the testimony that you've got here that this confession is true.

The best way to prevent cancer is not to have cancer at all, not to treat it. So if someone's going to claim that these are going to help us tremendously in treating cancer, I'd say that removing the The incredible amount of pollution that they're going to cause is going to cause fewer cancers than they're going to treat. Okay? Now, also, these things are all over the country. We have plenty of experience with them. People are experiencing rolling blackouts. As one woman pointed out, this one power plant we're building for this data center is going to take up as much energy as the number of homes in Jefferson County. And that is a disaster to the environment and for people's rates. There are just no benefits to this. They have construction jobs for a short time. And then no one else works with these things. They run on their own. And they're part of the surveillance state. Part of this is the incredible degree of surveillance we already have. And they're planning on expanding. That's what the tech girls love to do. The use of AI and all this stuff is just really dumbing people down. They cannot think on their own because they're so used to asking a computer to tell them everything. It's just not good for society, especially when we do that with kids as soon as they get in school. They're in front of a tablet all day and they don't know how to interact with people. recording disaster with the continued use of computers. And people also have in their, they also have problems with water consumption. We're probably on the Ohio few people that use water. There are a lot of problems with water pressure, which could be a problem, even in Jefferson County, because of the amount of water that's being used by these facilities. There is just nothing good that can be said about it. You've not had one person come in here and make a comment about how they love data centers. They love the noise. I just saw a thing on the news a couple of days ago about Charlestown over in Indiana. They approved the construction of a data center there. And they interviewed a woman who said, oh, I'm selling my property. Well, too late now. You're not going to get anything for a property right next to a data center. So these things are just a disaster for everyone. And again, as somebody pointed out, they're building them in the poorest area of town. They have enough pollution out here. This is just not good. I'm an engineer.

I'm a chemical engineer, so I know a lot about pollution.

Thank you.

Leslie Lyon. All names available? Leslie Lyon, Coral 272.

Where's my handbook?

Can you swear upon this testimony that I'm going to give to this commission? Yes. Thank you.

Hi, I'm just kind of on our three in a row, I guess is what everyone else has said. I do live out in the sub-cold. I was just wondering, is there any of our representatives here, bunch of council people in? Anybody here?

Okay, well anyway.

I was just wondering also, have any of y'all been down to Ruppertown or Camp Grand Rd or looked at the facility? Okay, anyway. I'm an electrician. Retired electrician, I've worked there, been down there, lived in this area for years. Lake Dreamland, which is right next to Robertown, it used to be a permanent resident on the Ohio River. If y'all, I'd love for y'all to go down and look at it. We call it Lake Dreamland now. And Robertown, I realize is what it is, but like everyone else has said, this basically is the poorest part of town, or of the city of Gould. And I know what everybody thinks about AI centers, but I also agree that who knows what we will have 20 years from now. And if you go down through Riverport, what they put out here, there's so many empty warehouses. These people come in and then they leave. I just don't know about these AI centers either. And also, is this going to be the largest one in the city of Louisville that they're building now on Cape Brown Road? If it is, and there's no restrictions whatsoever, just like they say with LG&E and MSA, every year rates are going up. 36 months. So if they put the center in down there, which I'm sure they're going to, property values go down. Are our costs going to go up on water and MSD and everything again? Do they have to put buffers out there? Do they have to maintain it? I feel the same way that they should have to put up a bond and have to maintain it. Like you say, the people's houses around them, their values go down. You can't tell me that they don't. I don't know if you all have any AI centers out by you, or where your properties are at, if you live in 40272, 40258, because I sure won't have got one right next to me, just like the way, you know, I grew up with fens all around me, with woods all around me, but it's not there anymore. All of my family has left this area, which I'm probably gonna do the same thing, but I better set up before they start building every other apartment building around me in another AI center. Because we don't have any regulations right now. But we all knew about it before they started. I think we should have had it. Because I'm an electrician, our code changes every two years. Because we know how everything is growing so fast and changing so fast. So that's what annoys me. We are basically the poorest part of the area in the city of Louisville. But it happens here first, and it just always keeps coming here. And it just bothers me. that we learn from this and it doesn't happen again and again and again.

Thank you.

Kendra Isha.

Kendra Isha.

Please state your full name and zip code for me. Then I'll swear your name. Kendra Isha.

Yeah, sorry, my phone is here. I don't, because it's at 4204. And I guess, sorry. Where are you running it for me?

Thank you. Thank you. So I'm not going to use my full three minutes.

I do think that it is really rich that the plan and commissioning comes to Southwest Louisville, Alaskan, Camp Brown Road, the Steve Post Data Center, as well as being approved by you all. I think it's very rich. that Mayor Greenberg is using this whole zoning process as if the P.M. Fremsburg data center is not being built and that this will retroactively reapply to that center. And we all know that it won't, right? We also all understand that the Metro Planning Commission is appointed by Mayor Greenberg. So you can get all of those things out here first. Okay. So we need to look no further than Mayor Greenberg's own safer, stronger, healthier, local framework. So the data center pressure proposed to be built is for more state surveillance and overt police than what many of these folks have already said. Greenberg's budget includes millions for Cop City, LMPB's budget is almost up 10%, And Steve codes people with themselves, called the data center a speculative investment property. It seems like Mayor Greenberg and the Think Commission is using his control over the city's budget to ensure his friends' investment pays off.

Y'all are literally gambling with my life.

We don't have money to keep our first street open, but we've got funds to tear down dozens of people's homes on St. Graham Road. That's something that you all approved months ago. What are Monroe's actual priorities? We already know that Steve Coe is not going to bring permanent jobs. MSD and LG&E are already pricing us out of water and electricity in our homes. And yet he's getting 50 years of tax breaks. Months ago, the Office of Planning has put out a survey, and over 80% of respondents said that we don't want a data center anywhere in Jefferson County. I commend the Office of Planning for getting stricter on these elements, but it's not far enough. And you all know it, and we all know it, and we will hold you accountable.

Can you start by giving your full name and zip code, please?

Sure. My name is Cassie Little. My zip code is 40258. Raise your right hand for me.

Do you swear by the testimony that you're going to give to the Commission of the Truth? Yes, sir.

Thank you. You have 30 minutes. Thank you. First and foremost, I would like to know, well, I think you told me, but I want a confirmation that the...

Camp Brown Road data center is not included in the new regulation. Am I correct?

You can keep going. I had to think about it. Yeah.

I live, as Pearl applies, about 2.5 miles from that data center. I am concerned about the noise. First and foremost, not only the audible, but the tone, the shaking, the vibration, that type of thing. I'm also worried that I can't speak with anybody about this data center and what it can do, what it will do to our community. I've asked several times of Steve Poe, the mayor. I can't get anyone to answer or talk to or to anyone in my District 1 community. And that was frustrating. I do appreciate the new regulations that you guys are coming up with. I think that's in the right direction. I'm half concerned. I'm totally concerned. But I'm mad as crap because I can't get any information about data centers. And then you start reading about them. And then you really, really, really get so concerned. And for that reason, I would like to ask that you put a moratorium on any data centers including the one that slipped through, apparently with no regulations, with all the incentives, 50 years of incentives, with the rate payers picking up the tab on the electric, not only, you know, just the electric itself, but the grid and the upgrade in the water. And I'm just very concerned, and I want you guys to know that. But I am here to say that please pause. Future data center development.

Thank you so much.

Hi, my name is Sarah Shaw, 4-0-2-2-9.

You swear upon the testimony that you're going to give that this connection is true?

I do. Thank you. All right. I'm a cybersecurity engineer.

AI was pushing on me, unwillingly, at my job. And almost every single one, no, every single one of my coworkers is like, why are we spending so much money on this? And then laying off people. Right? So this data center doesn't bring any jobs. The state of Kentucky in 2025 passed an exemption for data centers. So 85% to 90% of purchases that go into constructing and running a data center, no sales tax on that. Sure wish I could give that to my mom. And then we have these NDAs. I don't know if any of you have signed one. I sure hope not. I don't want a single public official to be able to sign a legally binding NDA with any one of these data center developers. Data centers should be net producers of energy. You shouldn't be looking out for our grid. Not only do you need to make your own energy, you need to give us a little. Amen. We need a mandate that auxiliary fossil fuel backup generators may only be operated during active utility grid failures. Routine maintenance testing must be strictly limited to single, pre-scheduled 60-minute window each calendar month that will be restricted to weekdays between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and must be housed in hospital-grade acoustic attenuation enclosures because I don't think any single one of you wants to live 1,500 feet from a data center. including you, Steve Lanner, who I don't think has looked at a single speaker today. We need to adopt a binding fiscal policy prohibiting the local government from granting industrial revenue loans, occupational tax credits, property tax abatements, or municipal infrastructure funding to any data processing utility. Why are we given 150 years of tax credits?

Where's my 50 years?

And to the man who said the AI data centers can cure cancer, I think we all know that curing cancer isn't profitable, and that's not what they're gonna be doing.

Thank you. Doug Bowers. Thank you. Kay Powers. Doug Meadors.

Doug Meadors, 40214. Louisville, in history, Louisville was known as the Great Yard of the West. It was known as the Great Yard of the West because the citizens of Louisville were dying of cholera. Steps were taken beginning in 1890 to provide safe water By 1917, Louisville had safe, clean water, so much so that Louisville was nationally known for its water. And the United States government, the armed services, decided to build an installation in Louisville where they needed their soldiers to maintain safe water. That installation was Camp Taylor. And Camp Taylor was the largest installation of its type in the United States. My father was an instrument-raised pilot. He flew out of Bowman Field. I had the privilege of flying with him when I had a seat available. On trips, I did not fully understand aviating or navigating, but one thing I did understand Looking over, when you could look down from the airplane, the community of Louisville was a brown cloud arising as you looked up and down the Ohio River Valley. The coal-burning generating stations made Louisville a place of dirty air for decades. In recent years, the Cane Run Station has shut down the coal-fired generating plant The dirty air in Louisville is getting a little better, it's getting better. Wouldn't it be an accomplishment for this community to be a location for clean air, much as we made the water pure and safe to drink? It is reported that the facility that's going in is a 400 megawatt facility. GE Appliance Park is about 20, 30, or 40 megawatts, depending on what lines are open and what exactly is happening. So give the top number 40 megawatts. The Ford Local Assembly Plant and the UPS Airside are large facilities, yet all of them as a facility are less than 40 megawatts. My concern is, it looks to me like a potential step backwards, We're going to have to use more shell gas generation or more coal generation. Coal mining has serious problems for the miners and coal generating stations. Give our air a bad air quality. Our horizon may become that brown cloud that I saw when I was flying out over Louisville. Thank you.

State your full name and your zip code for me, and I'll swear you. Where's your right hand from? Do you swear a firm that the testimony is not true? Okay, you have three minutes.

so um most of the things are going to say but um i moved here in 2022 and um the first job that i had to appear for from california was um a really great job but um after being there for less than two years because of ai um being able to allowed the company to work for that employed over 100,000 people at the time, and now employs about 30,000 people. It was a good paid job, you know, I would always know what to do in the LA area for a shitty job, you know. And then I found another job, because the economy was still great back then, in 2023, and now that job, as I said, is due today. So I'm coming from a little bit of a different perspective. They suck. The pollution sucks. The whole thing sucks. Anybody who supports it has not a shred of decency or morals whatsoever.

Period.

My name is . My name is .

My name is . My name is . Where do I pay for it?

You swear on the testimony that you're going to give to this commission, too? Yes, sir, I will. All right, thank you.

My name is Myron Wilkerson. I'm a Louisville area resident, a data science student and entrepreneur, and someone deeply interested in technology, education, infrastructure, and economic development in Kentucky. I've been following the discussion regarding data centers in Louisville, Metro's proposed regulations, and I want to begin by saying that I believe the concerns being raised by residents deserve to be taken very seriously. When we talk about data centers, we're not simply talking about buildings. We're talking about electricity, water, cooling, land, noise, environmental impact, infrastructure, economic development, and the long-term relationship between technology companies and the communities where they operate. I believe Louisville has an opportunity to ask a bigger question, instead of asking only, how do we regulate the next data center? I believe we should ask, can we design the next generation of computational infrastructure differently? I'm currently developing a technology concept called distributed autonomous compute habitat. I'm intentionally not discussing the proprietary technical details of this concept in a public forum, but the broader vision is to rethink the relationship between computational workloads and the physical environments in which they operate. I believe the future of computing will require us to think differently about power, cooling, water, land connectivity, resilience, and community impact. I do not believe rules should have to choose between economic development and responsible infrastructure. I believe we should pursue both. Louisville has an opportunity to become more than a place where traditional data centers are simply approved or rejected. We could become a place where new approaches to computational infrastructure are studied, tested, measured, and responsibly evaluated. My recommendation is that Louisville Metro consider establishing a structured computational infrastructure innovation working group or technical advisory process to enable citizens through public policy. That brings us together to the residents, engineers, universities, entrepreneurs, utilities, environmental experts, technology professionals, and economic development leaders. This group can examine all the risks and opportunities associated with the growth of artificial intelligence, data science, robotics, the advanced community, and other emerging technologies. I would also encourage Louisville to consider whether it should become a responsible demonstration site for innovation, infrastructure models that address community concerns while supporting technology and economic development. We have an opportunity to think beyond the question of whether Louisville should add more data centers. The larger question is what kind of computational infrastructure do we want Louisville and Kentucky to have 10, 20, and 30 years from now? I believe our residents deserve a voice in that future. I believe our engineers and universities should help design it. I believe our entrepreneurs should be encouraged to develop new solutions. And I believe our government should create a process for innovation to be responsibly evaluated. My goal is to not to ask movement to approve particular technology. My goal is to encourage movement to remain open to better ideas. Thank you for your time.

I appreciate you having a meeting here at Southwest Louisville. Here are my thoughts.

I'm going to get in the weeds a little bit.

The number of data centers in the zip code should be limited.

My concern is that data proximity to each other. I think there should be a distance requirement. Take National Turnpike, for example. There are a substantial number of warehouses in close proximity to each other. These warehouses could be turned into data centers individually. A warehouse may not present an issue, but collectively they could. I don't think the issuance of a conditional use permit is appropriate for data centers. I think applicants wanting to operate a data center should have to present their case to the Planning Commission, not BOZA. I also think Metro Council needs to approve or deny the data center. When saying additional proposed regulations, quote, require substantial separation from homes, schools, and daycare facilities, end quote, Parks, community centers, and ball fields need to be added. An example is the property at Southside and Steely Drive, which was rezoned to M3. If given the conditional use permit, the property could have a data center built on it. It's adjacent to Beechmont Little League's baseball fields. Another point. When saying additional proposed regulations, quote, require public hearing and conditional use permit for data centers that do not meet outlined exceptions for existing business operations, end quote.

I just don't like that.

I think there should be specific zoning that has to go before the Planning Commission and Metro Council, not OSA. Another point. There should be code enforcement and regular inspections of data centers. Another point. Section 4.2.1 states conditional use permit following a public hearing before the court of zoning adjustments, provided such uses will not have an adverse effect on neighboring property. Define what adverse effect is. Section 4.2.6a states any conditional use permit is subject to the applicant also receiving all necessary permits from local, state, and federal regulatory agencies. prior to using the data center. I also think you ought to take a hard look at bar suppression systems. I think it should be required, not suggested. I think there also needs to be a hard look at closed-loop systems for water and sanitary, that it should be required. And also to tighten up the water and heat ventilation. So I really appreciate you all listening to me tonight.

Anyone in the audience not get a chance to speak that wanted to speak? No? Okay. With that, there was a couple of just procedural things that I wanted to have Joe come back and clear up just so everybody's on the same page with the purpose of this meeting. So Joe, I'll turn it over to you and then close the meeting.

All right, so we had a few questions about a moratorium. That has been discussed largely. You probably read about that in the paper, but just so that we're clear, the Planning Commission does not have the authority to adopt a moratorium. That applies with the legislative bodies, which in most of Metro would be Metro Council. It's fair, any comments you make regarding that matter are on public record and we'll forward all of this to the council, but just be aware that this planning commission does not have the authority to do that. A lot of people brought up the project on Campground Road, and generally just be aware that we cannot apply new regulations to a project that's already been approved. So this is more of how we move forward with the next project. But generally with zoning, you cannot apply zoning regulations to a project that's already been approved and reviewed. That's a legal thing. We can talk more about it. I just want to give a high-level answer to that. And for those of you that came in a little bit later, I'm just going to go over the process one more time. We're doing something a little bit unique here. Normally, we only have one public hearing, and we're commissioned to make a recommendation following that public hearing. We knew that there was a lot of interest. I think over 100 people in the room today, and we have a few more meetings. So we're going to close the public hearing tonight and continue it to another one without deliberation. Deliberation is typically the final step where the commission talk about it, share their ideas, and start formulating their own recommendations. We're going to have three more opportunities for public comment. If you did not speak tonight, you can still comment. If you spoke tonight, you're more than welcome to attend those other meetings and watch and participate in terms of watching. But if you spoke, we're trying to make sure that everybody has an opportunity to speak. so once we get through those three other meetings then we'll set a date for the planning commission to deliberate and start working on a revised set of recommendations that go forward on the metro council and those 12 suburban cities that have their own ability to adopt their own zoning rules then they will start their own debate process about what they're going to do. Further changes can be made. So I just, it's a road where a lot of changes and a lot of things can still happen. So it's important that you get your comments in and they will be considered. Thank you everybody for attending. We appreciate it.

Thank you.

We need a motion to continue the meeting to August 5th at 5.30. Can I ask a question? No, we're not taking questions now. All right, I need a motion to continue this to August 5th without the thought that our new bill shall begin.

I'll make a motion to continue this to August 5th. Second.

I'll make a motion to second. Roll call please. All in favor?

Aye.

We got no decision, so all those in favor. I'm looking for a motion to adjourn. So moved.