# Louisville mayor calls for a data center moratorium as city considers regulations **Published:** 2026-08-04T20:30:07.000Z **Source:** [Kentucky Lantern](https://kentuckylantern.com/2026/08/04/louisville-mayor-calls-for-a-data-center-moratorium-as-city-considers-regulations/) **Republished from:** [Kentucky Lantern](https://kentuckylantern.com/2026/08/04/louisville-mayor-calls-for-a-data-center-moratorium-as-city-considers-regulations/) (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) **Canonical:** https://kentuckylantern.com/2026/08/04/louisville-mayor-calls-for-a-data-center-moratorium-as-city-considers-regulations/ By Liam Niemeyer, [Kentucky Lantern](https://kentuckylantern.com) · August 4, 2026 The mayor of Kentucky’s largest city is calling on city council members to pass a temporary ban or moratorium on data center construction within the city while the local government mulls over [potential regulations restricting the siting and impacts of large data centers](https://www.lpm.org/news/2026-06-10/louisville-proposed-data-center-regulations-heres-what-they-say). In a Tuesday afternoon press conference, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said that by enacting a temporary ban on data center construction, it would ensure any new requests to build data centers in the city would be reviewed under data center regulations the city is considering. The city is continuing to [hold public hearings this week](https://www.wdrb.com/news/louisville-holds-1st-of-4-public-hearings-on-proposed-data-center-regulations/article_5a75ff8d-2436-4744-9bde-ac25936d5abb.html) seeking feedback on a regulatory framework on siting data centers that would ban any data center larger than 500,000 square feet from being built. Local leaders began to consider such regulations [following backlash from residents](https://www.lpm.org/news/2026-03-05/west-louisville-data-center-approved-despite-opposition) after the city’s planning and zoning commission approved in March the siting of a 1.6-million-square-foot data center in West Louisville. “I believe it’s critical that once we get through this public hearing process, which is continuing, that we approve these proposed data center regulations,” Greenberg said. “We must ensure that no additional actions related to data centers are taken while these outdated regulations are still on the books.” [In June](https://kentuckylantern.com/2026/06/08/some-kentucky-counties-and-cities-are-hitting-pause-on-data-centers/#:~:text=But%20in%20Kentucky%E2%80%99s%20largest%20city%20of%20Louisville%2C%20a%20planning%20and%20zoning%20committee%20on%20June%202%20voted%20to%20table%20a%20six%2Dmonth%20moratorium%20proposed%20by%20city%20council%20member%20Jenniffer%20Chappell%2C%20who%20said%20at%20the%20meeting%20she%20was%20%E2%80%9Cnot%20willing%20to%20let%20Louisville%20be%20a%20guinea%20pig%20for%20these%20data%20centers.%E2%80%9D%C2%A0), city council members on a [planning and zoning committee](https://kentuckylantern.com/2026/06/08/some-kentucky-counties-and-cities-are-hitting-pause-on-data-centers/#:~:text=But%20in%20Kentucky%E2%80%99s%20largest%20city%20of%20Louisville%2C%20a%20planning%20and%20zoning%20committee%20on%20June%202%20voted%20to%20table%20a%20six%2Dmonth%20moratorium%20proposed%20by%20city%20council%20member%20Jenniffer%20Chappell%2C%20who%20said%20at%20the%20meeting%20she%20was%20%E2%80%9Cnot%20willing%20to%20let%20Louisville%20be%20a%20guinea%20pig%20for%20these%20data%20centers.%E2%80%9D%C2%A0) voted to table an ordinance to enact a data center moratorium after the chair of the committee argued such a moratorium should be used as a last resort. Council member Shameka Parrish-Wright, who is challenging Greenberg in the mayoral general election this fall, questioned the timing of the mayor’s announcement with a Monday email she had sent to city council members urging them to un-table the moratorium ordinance. “It is interesting that after months of this ordinance languishing in committee after being tabled, and after weeks of poor publicity, the mayor suddenly chose to take a position on data centers only after I called for this item to be returned to the table,” Parrish-Wright said, accusing Greenberg of “using his weekly address to appear as though he has been on the side of his constituents the whole time.” ## Sources - [Kentucky Lantern](https://kentuckylantern.com/2026/08/04/louisville-mayor-calls-for-a-data-center-moratorium-as-city-considers-regulations/)