President of Shaker Village speaks out against data centers, as developers eye Mercer County

MERCER COUNTY, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW via LEX NEWS) – The conversation around data center development continues to heighten in Mercer County, as the City of Burgin held a public meeting on Thursday at Burgin Independent Schools, where residents packed a room in opposition.

Before the meeting on Thursday, LEX News spoke with Billy Rankin, the president of Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill in Mercer County regarding his thoughts towards developing a data center in his community.

“You’re not going to see a thoroughbred farm across the road on [US-68] anymore once this is put in,” said Rankin.

Developers with American Farm Investors and JLL Louisville Real Estate are working to build the data center in Mercer County. Developers previously purchased 10 properties located near Bailey Pike, just two miles away from the Shaker Village area.

“Shaker Village is Kentucky’s largest national historic landmark… Our front entrance is two miles away from where a data center will be built,” Rankin said.

For more than 200 years, the shakers have built generations on the village land, and it’s been home to numerous thoroughbreds, one of the many reasons residents, including Rankin, are fighting against data center development in their community.

“It’s going to have an impact on all of our guests. It’s going to have an environmental impact, because we’re all sharing the same ecosystem… So, we’re extremely concerned about the potential of this development, what it means for our future,” said Rankin.

With the City of Burgin not having a planning and zoning development department, Rankin said he’s worried this will allow the real estate companies to dictate what happens to both Burgin and Shaker Village.

“The thing is, we’re going to be judged, not just by on the things that we build, but the things we decide to save, what we don’t destroy,” said Rankin. “That’s what future generations are going to judge us on. We can’t lose that. That’s part of our identity.”

A petition with more than 3,800 signatures has been created to stop the construction of data centers in Mercer County. Additionally, a second reading of the ordinance will take place on Monday, July 20 in Burgin.

Kayleigh Randle is committed to covering the stories that matter to you. If you have an idea, please reach out to Kayleigh at kayleigh.randle@wlex.tv.