Barren townhall series on zoning opens at Temple Hill
Published 6:00 am Thursday, July 16, 2026
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Barren County Judge-Executive Jamie Bewley Byrd, County Attorney Mike Richardson and members of the Joint City-County Planning Commission host the first of a series of town hall meetings to gather public input about planning and zoning at the Temple Hill Elementary School gym on Tuesday evening, July 14, 2026. The next meeting is scheduled for 5-7 p.m. July 21 at the Austin-Tracy Elementary School gym. (Grace McDowell / The Daily News)
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Ricky Houchens of Barren County speaks out in protest to the prospective data center in Cave City during the first of a series of town hall meetings being held by Barren County officials to gather public input about planning and zoning at the Temple Hill Elementary School gym on Tuesday evening, July 14, 2026. The next meeting is scheduled for 5-7 p.m. July 21 at the Austin-Tracy Elementary School gym. (Grace McDowell / The Daily News)
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Barren County Attorney Mike Richardson answers questions from residents regarding planning and zoning rules as they discuss the prospective data center in Cave City during the first of a series of town hall meetings to gather public input about planning and zoning at the Temple Hill Elementary School gym on Tuesday evening, July 14, 2026. The next meeting is scheduled for 5-7 p.m. July 21 at the Austin-Tracy Elementary School gym. (Grace McDowell / The Daily News)
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Barren County Judge-Executive Jamie Bewley Byrd answers questions from residents regarding planning and zoning rules as they discuss the prospective data center in Cave City during the first of a series of town hall meetings to gather public input about planning and zoning at the Temple Hill Elementary School gym on Tuesday evening, July 14, 2026. The next meeting is scheduled for 5-7 p.m. July 21 at the Austin-Tracy Elementary School gym. (Grace McDowell / The Daily News)
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Ricky Houchens of Barren County speaks out in protest to the prospective data center in Cave City during the first of a series of town hall meetings being held by Barren County officials to gather public input about planning and zoning at the Temple Hill Elementary School gym on Tuesday evening, July 14, 2026. The next meeting is scheduled for 5-7 p.m. July 21 at the Austin-Tracy Elementary School gym. (Grace McDowell / The Daily News)
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Sheila Hatcher speaks about the 871 signatures she acquired on a petition in protest to the prospective data center in Cave City during the first of a series of town hall meetings being held by Barren County officials to gather public input about planning and zoning at the Temple Hill Elementary School gym on Tuesday evening, July 14, 2026. The next meeting is scheduled for 5-7 p.m. July 21 at the Austin-Tracy Elementary School gym. (Grace McDowell / The Daily News)
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Angie Harold speaks out in protest to the prospective data center proposed for a plot of land in Cave City, which she said borders her property, during the first of a series of town hall meetings being held by Barren County officials to gather public input about planning and zoning at the Temple Hill Elementary School gym on Tuesday evening, July 14, 2026. The next meeting is scheduled for 5-7 p.m. July 21 at the Austin-Tracy Elementary School gym. (Grace McDowell / The Daily News)
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Gary Minor speaks out in protest to the prospective data center proposed for a plot of land in Cave City, which he said is near his property, during the first of a series of town hall meetings being held by Barren County officials to gather public input about planning and zoning at the Temple Hill Elementary School gym on Tuesday evening, July 14, 2026. The next meeting is scheduled for 5-7 p.m. July 21 at the Austin-Tracy Elementary School gym. (Grace McDowell / The Daily News)
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Barren County Judge-Executive Jamie Bewley Byrd, County Attorney Mike Richardson and members of the Joint City-County Planning Commission listen as Barren County residents speak out in protest to the prospective data center in Cave City during the first of a series of town hall meetings being held by Barren County officials to gather public input about planning and zoning at the Temple Hill Elementary School gym on Tuesday evening, July 14, 2026. The next meeting is scheduled for 5-7 p.m. July 21 at the Austin-Tracy Elementary School gym. (Grace McDowell / The Daily News)
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Barren County residents listen as Barren County Judge-Executive Jamie Bewley Byrd, County Attorney Mike Richardson and members of the Joint City-County Planning Commission answer their questions regarding planning and zoning rules as they discuss the prospective data center in Cave City during the first of a series of town hall meetings to gather public input about planning and zoning at the Temple Hill Elementary School gym on Tuesday evening, July 14, 2026. The next meeting is scheduled for 5-7 p.m. July 21 at the Austin-Tracy Elementary School gym. (Grace McDowell / The Daily News)
GLASGOW — It isn’t the first time in recent memory that a proposed major development in Barren County has galvanized a community regarding land use regulations, but several who attended Tuesday’s town hall meeting at Temple Hill Elementary School were of a different mindset when it came to countywide zoning than when prior projects sought to develop in the county
“With a free-for-all here, the potential for destroying the character of the land, the agricultural nature of the community is just too great without having some zoning and designations for what land use is appropriate for different areas,” said Bob Snee, a Haywood resident who was among some 50 people to attend the meeting
Organized by county government, Tuesday’s town hall is the first in a series of four anticipated to take place over the course of the summer to gather input from members of the public about a potential countywide zoning ordinance
Barren County Judge-Executive Jamie Bewley Byrd, Barren County Attorney Mike Richardson, Joint City-County Planning Director Kevin Myatt and members of Barren County Fiscal Court were on hand to answer questions and hear from the public
Attendees were allotted two minutes to speak
At the podium, Snee cited portions of the county’s comprehensive plan regulating land use, saying that the goals listed in the plan could not be carried out without a zoning ordinance, which the county does not presently have
“It literally will be impossible to accomplish those goals of making sure that development is appropriate to preserve natural and agricultural rety,” Snee said after the town hall. “Without having zoning that’s impossible.”
Several who attended the town hall voiced opposition to a prospective data center on a large swath of land in Cave City
The city council there passed a one-year moratorium on all data center applications within city limits, which is being challenged in the courts by the Kentucky Industrial Alliance, the developer applying for the data center
Though located on the opposite end of the county from Cave City, Temple Hill community members who mentioned the data center said that the potential negative ramifications of a large-scale development of its kind in Cave City would spread beyond municipal boundaries
“I just think we need to make sure there’s lots of restrictions because of all the sinkholes in the area and all the wildlife in Mammoth Cave,” said Robin Lively, a Glasgow resident. “Everybody in Barren County should be here – it’s going to affect us all, it’s not just going to affect people in Cave City.”
Byrd is no stranger to community discussions regarding zoning – the topic came up last year at a town hall meeting in Glasgow in the wake of a construction of a 2,300-acre solar farm on the western end of the county
That project earned criticism from neighboring landowners who felt they did not have a say in the decision-making process, but community members at last year’s meeting were broadly opposed to a zoning ordinance covering the county
“I’m a big property rights person because I own land, but I do think that zoning also protects your property rights because it helps regulate what goes around you…you can put restrictions in place that protect the community if things do progress,” Byrd said
Answering a question from an attendee, Myatt said the process of drafting and approving a zoning ordinance of the county could take about five months
Others asked about whether fiscal court could adopt a countywide moratorium on data center applications, but Richardson said such an ordinance would likely be struck down by the courts because the county does not have the zoning regulations in place, and so has no legal framework to regulate land use or enforce a moratorium
“If you lose in the courts you’re going to end up having nothing,” Richardson said. “The zoning process gives you an avenue to have your voice heard, and right now there’s not a process in place to be able for you to do that.”
The next town hall meeting is set for July 21 at Austin-Tracy Elementary School, and dates for meetings in Park City and Hiseville are to be determined
