The Mercer County Joint Planning and Zoning Commission held a special meeting tonight to hear community frustrations regarding a proposed data center development before the Fiscal Court votes on the issue.The county's proposed o rdinance requires that data center facilities be located within the county's IT zoning district. Under the proposal, only 1,500 acres across the county can be used, and facilities must be at least 750 feet from residential areas.Henry Smith, the lawyer for the planning commission, explained that the commission is trying to cater to both sides."We've done our best to regulate some of the concerns they brought to us traffic, noise, and the way that it's going to impact the community," Smith said.However, the stakes remain high for those opposing the development. Hank Graddy, the attorney for the coalition "We Are Mercer County," is calling for a moratorium to protect the area's natural resources."We feel like they're rushing and we feel like they should slow down. Consider our comments and make some serious improvements," Graddy said.Graddy expressed concerns about the proximity to homes and the lack of protection for agricultural land in the current comprehensive plan.According to him, the "human health piece" is missing from the plan, especially considering those residents in range of a potential data center and the daily impacts."There should be a chapter in the comprehensive plan that says data centers here's where they should go, here's where they should not go. We don't have that. It's something that comprehensive plan does say protect farmland, and yet this ordinance doesn't say anything about protecting farmland," Graddy said.Neighbors and local representatives urged the commission to consider the potentially irreversible effects of the project."The future of data centers in Mercer County is not just a regulatory issue, it is a broad planning issue, perhaps the single most impactful and complicated land use issue the county has ever faced," a lawyer representing Shaker Village said."I have faith that if you follow this process, you will come to understand that the land that spans from Harrodsburg to the Harrington Lake and to the Kentucky River is some of the most significant historic, prehistoric geological, agricultural, and biological land our entire state has to offer," another community member said. "The generations that come after us will judge you not by just what you build. But by what you choose not to destroy." ...read more read less