Data centers

Asked the council to work closely with No AI in KY during the moratorium year and to craft a ZOTA with strict limits, monitoring and real penalties.

A UK politics instructor and congressional candidate urged the council to extend the data center moratorium, study grid and water impacts, rewrite zoning to remove data centers, and impose a 50-megawatt countywide cap.

Speaking for the No AI in KY coalition, she cited national polling against data centers and asked the council to reject the proposed ZOTA, create a new data center zone, and guarantee community engagement and strict operational limits.

Read a statement from District 7 resident and at-large candidate Herbert Lynn supporting the two zoning motions and thanking Curtis and Morton for their leadership.

Supported the moratorium extension and urged creation of a new data center zone and removal of data processing centers as acceptable uses.

A No AI in KY leader said community opposition is total and warned that many small data centers pose the same grid strain as one big one; she asked for a 25-megawatt cap and community seats at the table.

Supported a ban on hyperscale data centers over 25 megawatts and creation of a new zoning designation.

A contractor who walked through the math on grid strain and water use, calling for a permanent ban on large data centers and a new zoning designation requiring full council votes.

Compared data centers to a bad product with terrible reviews, citing well-water contamination in Georgia, noise in Ohio, diesel incidents in Virginia and smog in Memphis.

Demanded that data centers use the local water utility, cap permits at five with five-mile spacing, cap power at 25 megawatts, and use only solar and batteries.

A parent who said AI is an existential threat to her son's future; she supported rejecting the ZOTA and an exclusive data center zone with community seats at the table.

Thanked Curtis for the moratorium and urged the council to resist developer pressure, ban AI data centers outright, and sign no NDAs with developers.

Connected data centers to greenhouse gas emissions and a UN report, urging passage of the Morton and Curtis motions unchanged with community representation.

A UK senior who linked AI data centers to mass surveillance and urged the council to defend privacy and education.

Drew on his childhood in Leslie County to warn about water extraction; urged a 25-megawatt cap, solar-only power, noise limits and penalties that hurt.

Supported both Morton proposals without amendments and promised residents will keep showing up and asking candidates where they stand.

A mother of two who asked the council to think of children, not corporate interests, when voting, and said Lexington can lead other communities in standing up to data center developers.

Argued AI-powered surveillance builds intimate profiles of residents and warned of government weaponization, urging the council to cancel Flock and ban AI data centers.

Detailed the explosive growth of AI data centers — 2,090 more planned nationwide — their outsized power and water demands, and asked the council to extend the moratorium to allow careful study.

A congressional candidate flagged a major loophole: the 25-megawatt limit applies per property, not per owner, so companies could subdivide; he urged a one-year moratorium extension and a countywide 50 MW cap.

Called for the 30-day cancellation notice to Flock and tighter data center square-footage caps of 10,000–20,000 square feet, warning Dart Points would erode weak regulations.

A software engineer and first-time speaker said neither he nor a dozen people he surveyed feel safer with Flock, citing unresolved security vulnerabilities and weak evidence of crime reduction.

A District 11 resident and congressional candidate urged extending the AI data center moratorium to October 2027 and ending the Flock camera program, saying the public opposes both.

A UK politics teacher and congressional candidate urged extending the data center moratorium and ending the Flock contract, citing Harvard research on data center health impacts and the $2 million Flock cost.

A DSA organizer who noted nearly 100 governments have canceled Flock contracts, urged redirecting funds to community-based crime prevention, and demanded a permanent data center moratorium.

A lifelong Fayette County resident asked the council to require decommissioning bonds for large projects like data centers, ensure transparency with no NDAs, end property taxes, and fix overgrown vegetation and pavement drop-offs on De Long Road.