Georgetown Council Extends Data Center Moratorium Through June 2027

The Georgetown City Council voted unanimously Monday night to extend the city's moratorium on data centers, moving the expiration date to June 30, 2027. It is the second time the council has extended the pause.

The public comment portion of the meeting was notably calm. At similar meetings elsewhere in Kentucky where data centers have been on the agenda, residents have made fiery appeals for moratorium extensions, but that was not the case in Georgetown on Monday.

Councilwoman Karen Tingle Sames made clear where she stands on the issue. "As I've said before and I'll continue to say it, the city of Georgetown doesn't have the resources to have a data center here in our community," she said.

The city has also started the process of drafting legislation that would fully ban hyperscale data centers within city limits. Mayor Burney Jenkins acknowledged that such a ban could be hard to achieve, noting that data centers are a legitimate business.

Jenkins said the extra months give the council, working with planning and zoning, more time to refine restrictions in case a ban does not succeed. "Yes, we may try to put out a ban, but we better have something else in place like some restrictions so then if the ban doesn't go over, then we have these restrictions to where it makes it tough for any types of data center to come in," he said.

WKYT also contacted council member Kim Menke, who is running for mayor of Georgetown. Menke expressed a similar view in a written statement, saying data centers should be judged like any other major industrial project.

"Before making long-term decisions, we need the tools and regulations to properly assess their size, infrastructure needs, benefits, and potential impacts," Menke said. He added that he supports a moratorium that gives the city time to better understand these projects and to set appropriate Planning & Zoning standards.

Menke said that once the city has that information, it can make an informed decision about whether a data center is a good fit for the community.