Commission Approves Hyperscale Data Center 7-1 as Rubbertown Residents Plead for Denial

Louisville's Planning Commission waded through a marathon four-and-a-half-hour hearing March 5, approving a 1.5-million-square-foot data center campus in the historically burdened Rubbertown area over fierce opposition from more than 25 public speakers — then denied a liquor store proposal that drew just one opponent but carried 30 years of neighborhood weight. The split decisions revealed the tension between the commission's narrow code-compliance mandate and the broader community concerns that increasingly arrive at its door.

• Hyperscale data center approved 7-1 on 153 acres in Rubbertown as 25+ residents cite fire risk, diesel pollution, energy costs, and environmental justice

• 30-year liquor store ban upheld 6-3 after District 12 councilmember argues binding elements "should not come with an asterisk"

• 213-lot Heritage Creek subdivision greenlit with safety cap on occupancy until second entrance opens

• South Point Commons Phase 2 cleared unanimously across five votes, unlocking 264,000 sq ft of retail near the Gene Snyder/Bardstown Road interchange despite unresolved sewer dispute

The longest and most contested item of the evening — consuming roughly two and a half hours — was a Category 3 development plan for a seven-building data center campus on approximately 153 acres of industrial-zoned land on Campground Road in the Rubbertown area.