MAYSVILLE, Ky. — A public hearing on a major data center proposal on the outskirts of Maysville turned from an information-sharing session to a face-to-face confrontation between attorneys on both sides of the development Wednesday.
Inside the Maysville Community and Technical College's Fields Auditorium, an attorney representing multiple Mason County residents, Hank Graddy, challenged developer attorney Tanner Nichols on who would be building the 2,080-acre 400-gigawatt data center in front of the dozens who came to learn more. It was the first of two scheduled public hearings.
All Nichols revealed is that the builder would be a "Fortune 500 tech company."
"I asked you to name that company," Graddy said to Nichols.
"And I said we're not doing that at this time," Nichols responded.
"You have to because I'm entitled to cross-examine the data center builder. That's what this zone change is about," Graddy said back.
Well this got spicy fast.
— Sean DeLancey (@SeanDeLanceyTV) March 25, 2026
A lawyer representing people living here is threatening to sue, and argues the company building the data center must be revealed so he can audit their record.
The lawyer representing the applicant is refusing to reveal the fortune 50 tech company.@WCPO https://t.co/3f4HhC4RZ3 pic.twitter.com/wzwgrMzWNl
Graddy pledged to file suit to block the zoning change on 28 properties currently considered for data center development based on the inability to audit the builder. He also noted his view that an industrial data center site doesn't align with the county's development plan.
Vicky Bess told us she came out to show solidarity with others who don't want to see farmland converted to industrial property, and she didn't like mounting questions about who would be building the project.
"It's shady," she said. "It's just flat-out shady. I mean, if you can't divulge who you are, there's a problem."
WATCH: We talk to Mason County residents about the new data center details, or lack thereof
In his address to the Mason County Joint Planning Commission, Nichols argued that job growth and the attraction of varied businesses were a key part of the county's development plan.
He said even if that wasn't the view of the commission, they could still grant a zone change based on how rapidly the economic conditions surrounding data centers have changed since the plan was passed.
Nichols said significant survey and study work had been done to ensure the proposed facility would comply with all standards.
"Zoning and local regulations aren't designed to stop development. They're just not," he said.
Nichols argued that, in addition to economic benefits and added jobs during construction and during operation, data centers were necessary to power the modern world.
"Every time we use the computers in our phones, we're using the stuff that the data centers process," he said.
Sean DeLancey has been covering the Maysville data center project for months. You can contact him here:
Graddy said he would be filing suit against the commission and all developers on Thursday on behalf of multiple people living around the property.
Nichols said it wasn't likely people would learn the identity of the company planning to build the data center until the zone change had been approved and contracts to buy those 28 properties had been signed.
You can read the developer's full application here:
