By James Brown
Glasgow News 1
The Barren County Land Use Committee had its second meeting Thursday night, and reviewed changes to the more than 100-page draft zoning ordinance for Barren County.
They also reviewed for the first time in a meeting Article 16 of the ordinance, which details requirements for merchant electric generating facilities. That portion of the draft ordinance was not available when the committee met Aug. 20. The second meeting of the committee was initially supposed to be Sept. 3, but the repaving of the Glasgow Public Square forced the meeting to be rescheduled to Sept. 17.
Myatt explained that Article 16 covers construction such as solar farms, wind turbines, and other “alternative” forms of commercial energy generation.
The zoning permissions in Article 16 of the draft Barren County zoning ordinance is projected onto the wall during the Barren County Land Use Committee meeting on Sept. 17, 2026. James Brown/Glasgow News 1
On Thursday night, the committee members also viewed the zoning map, which Myatt had projected onto the wall. He explained that this is a draft map in progress, and asked that the committee members and anyone in the public to review it. The map and the full ordinance will be available online at the Joint City-County Planning Commission website.
At the first meeting, Planning director Kevin Myatt explained the role of the committee.
“This is an advisory committee. Their purpose is to help and advise the staff of the planning commission write the best possible document that is requested by the Barren County Fiscal Court,” Myatt said. “In July, the magistrates of the Barren County Fiscal Court voted to enact zoning in the county. Following KRS 100 statute that falls to the planning commission and no one else. It’s the planning commission’s responsibility to come up with that document and produce a document that, one, meets the citizens’ needs, and, two, that the fiscal court feels comfortable enough to adopt, if it gets to that spot.”
On Tuesday, Myatt set out the plan going forward. The next Land Use Committee meeting will be Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 6 p.m. in the Glasgow City Council chambers inside Luska J. Twyman Municipal Building. There will be another land use meeting on Oct. 13 at 6 p.m. in the same location.
Then on Oct. 19 there will be public hearing of the proposed countywide zoning ordinance before the Joint City-County Planning Commission. That meeting will be at 7 p.m. in the council chambers.
Barren County magistrate Tim Coomer and Bobby Bunnell, who are both members of the Barren County Land Use Committee, look on as Planning Director Kevin Myatt (not pictured) speaks on Sept. 17, 2026. James Brown/Glasgow News 1
Previously Myatt explained the steps.
“Once we hold the necessary [Land Use Committee] public meetings, we will then hold a public hearing at the Planning Commission level. That public hearing will be the official text and the official zoning map that will be presented to the planning commission. They then will either approve or deny that. So we’ll go with the approval part of it. [The planning commission] then will hold a second meeting to approve their minutes and that will be forwarded to the fiscal court for final adoption, where there will be no changes that will be made. It’s either a yes or no vote once it gets to them at that point.
“So the due process and public hearings are held at the planning commission level. …. And then that will be forwarded to the fiscal court for a yes, no adoption. And if it is approved and it is passed on second reading, it will be official and become adopted, by law.”
On Thursday night, Myatt did point out that a zoning ordinance once adopted is a living document. It can be amended in the future, and changes can be made to the law.
Why this committee exists
The committee was formed as community members wanted more information on how to regulate potential data center construction in Barren County. There are no zoning restrictions on such high-intensity technological infrastructure outside of incorporated areas of Barren County. Glasgow and Park City each have specific ordinances that classify data centers as heavy industry with conditional use. Cave City has no ordinance specific to data centers, but has passed a one-year moratorium on accepting applications for data center construction. That moratorium is being challenged in court by Kentucky Industrial Alliance.
Barren County magistrate Marty Kinslow, who is on the Barren County Land Use Committee, speaks during the meeting on Sept. 17, 2026. James Brown/Glasgow News 1
The committee was appointed to help guide creation of the county’s first comprehensive zoning ordinance and includes five citizen members: Billy Beckham, Eric Snyder, Jamie Pendygraft, Josh Morris and Sheila Steenbergen.
Magistrates Tim Coomer and Marty Kinslow also serve on the committee, giving fiscal court representation in the process.
There are also three members of the committee who represent the Joint City-County Planning Commission: Thomas Grubbs, Bobby Bunnell and Ricky Houchens.
The planning commission is charged with drafting ordinances pursuant to Kentucky law, and wrote this ordinance with the assistance of R.M. True, a consultant who specializes in drafting regulations that pertain to high-intensity technological infrastructure through his company Kentucky Steward LLC.
At Thursday night’s meeting, the committee members reviewed suggested changes to the articles they had review at the Aug. 20 meeting, but the bulk of the meeting focused on Article 16. That article was not available at the first meeting. They also reviewed a revised Article 17, which is the one that would regulate high-intensity technological infrastructure, such as hyper-scale data centers.
Article 17 was not available to review during the Aug. 20 meeting, but was publicly available the next day on the planning commission website.
This story will be updated with links to the proposed ordinance, and the preliminary Barren County zoning map.
The legend for the draft zoning map for Barren County is projected onto the wall during the Barren County Land Use Committee meeting on Sept. 17, 2026. James Brown/Glasgow News 1
The draft zoning map for Barren County is projected onto the wall during the Barren County Land Use Committee meeting on Sept. 17, 2026. James Brown/Glasgow News 1
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