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'Against Hyperscale Data Centers': E'town's Rules Reach City Council

Elizabethtown's data center zoning rules got their first reading at City Council on August 3. The mayor explained why the city chose regulations over a moratorium. The adoption vote is still ahead. Here is what was said, in their own words.

Phil Taul

Phil Taul

— 7 min read
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Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory speaking at the dais during the August 3, 2026 city council meeting
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Correction, August 9, 2026: An earlier version of this article said Elizabethtown's adoption vote on the data center zoning ordinance was expected Monday, August 10. August 10 is a City Council work session. The city takes ordinance readings at its regular meetings, and the city's own August 10 agenda lists the next City Council meeting as August 17. The adoption vote is expected Monday, August 17. We have corrected the article and we regret the error.

The data center zoning rules Elizabethtown has been building since July took their next step Monday night. City Attorney Ken Howard gave Ordinance 13-2026 its first reading at the August 3 City Council meeting, and Mayor Jeff Gregory spent several minutes explaining, in the most direct language the city has used yet, what the rules are meant to do and why the city rejected the alternatives residents asked for. No adoption vote happened Monday. That comes at a second reading.

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