Lexington Extends Data Center Moratorium to October 2027, Advances Zoning Limits on New Facilities

Lexington Extends Data Center Moratorium to October 2027, Advances Zoning Limits on New Facilities

Council vote follows three hours of public comment; draft ZOTA would cap data centers at 50,000 square feet and 25 megawatts

The Urban County Council voted unanimously to extend Lexington's moratorium on new data center development through October 2027 while refining a zoning ordinance text amendment that would bar facilities over 50,000 square feet, cap power use at 25 megawatts and limit noise to 30 decibels. The council also moved to confine smaller data centers to industrial zones and asked the Planning Commission to draft a separate exclusive-use zoning classification for minor data centers, a designation the city currently applies only to landfills. Business representatives, including banks and hospitals that depend on on-site server infrastructure, asked for more time to avoid unintended consequences, while residents pressed for tighter limits. The moratorium dates to June 2026, when the council paused permits and zone changes after the former Lexmark data center site was sold to DartPoints.