A Kentucky land development company, Kentucky Industrial Alliance, LLC, is suing the City of Cave City over a moratorium on data center development. The company claims the city council rushed to ban data centers without following the law.

Background

The lawsuit, filed on June 8, argues that the passing of the moratorium violated Kentucky state law and should be declared unlawful and invalid. According to the lawsuit, Kentucky Industrial Alliance had planned to sell a property at 2001 Doyle Avenue in Cave City to be developed into a data center.

The city council passed the moratorium on May 20, with a 4-1 vote, after weeks of public outcry against building a data center near Mammoth Cave National Park. Residents expressed concerns about environmental impacts, tourism impacts, utility requirements, and community character.

Lawsuit Claims

The lawsuit claims that the city council did not follow zoning laws, which require a referral to the planning commission and a public hearing with proper notice. It also claims that the moratorium was passed in bad faith and fails to explain why it was needed.

Additionally, the lawsuit claims that the moratorium was rushed and that Kentucky Industrial Alliance was not informed of any meetings, thus denying the company a fair hearing. The company also claims that it had vested rights prior to the moratorium, having filed a development plan and invested over $2 million in the project.

Kentucky Industrial Alliance is asking for a hearing through the courts and is seeking to have the moratorium declared unlawful and invalid. If the court does not find the moratorium unlawful, the company is asking that the planning commission be required to hear the development plan and follow the ordinances in place before the moratorium was passed.

Original reporting: WLKY Louisville — read the source article.