Residents given 3 months to vacate homes after Fortune 500 company proposes nearby data center

Data centers are cropping up across the U.S., particularly in regions where property prices are low. In Kentucky, plans for a new data center are displacing an entire community, forcing tenants to vacate within three months, according to Lex 18 News.

A Fortune 50 company submitted a proposal to build a data center on more than 2,000 acres of farmland near a residential area in Maysville, Kentucky.

Residents of Meadowland Village mobile home park received a letter from their landlord, on behalf of DPD Property Management, stating they will be given three months to relocate.

To help with approved moving expenses, the project developer is offering each resident up to $20,000. Beyond the struggles of getting these expenses approved by the management company, some residents, like Rico Roberts, fear this won't be enough to cover the financial burden of a forced move. "$20,000 ain't nothing," Roberts claimed.

Many Meadowland Village residents are also concerned about securing housing in a timely manner that meets their needs.

Roger Purcell is an impacted resident who is battling kidney disease. He uses a ramp at his home and will need to move or rebuild it if he moves.

The search for a new place to live for Purcell and other residents is even more complicated by local laws. Mobile homes are allowed in rural residential or agricultural zoned areas only, according to a Mason County ordinance.

"There's no trailer parks around here enough to even absorb half of these trailers," Purcell said.

Hank Graddy filed suit against Mason County on behalf of Meadowland Village residents.

Across the country, residents are feeling the impacts of the AI boom and the data centers needed to power this technology. Skyrocketing electricity prices, incessant noise, and water shortages are some of the main complaints from individuals living near data centers.

Communities are showing up at nearly every opportunity to shut down proposed data center projects; some are successful, while others are blatantly ignored by their local representatives. At the state and federal levels, politicians are racing to establish regulations for the rapid construction of data centers nationwide.

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