A small East Tennessee city implemented a temporary moratorium on new data center development.
The Loudon City Council passed a resolution this week to approve a 12-month ban on data centers by a 3-2 vote. Loudon is a city of around 7,000 residents, located nearly 40 minutes outside Knoxville.
The original resolution would have had the data center ban at 18 months, but city council members voted to reduce it to 12 months before voting on it.
According to the resolution, during the temporary moratorium, the City of Loudon will not approve “permitting, location, construction, expansion, or operation of data center facilities within the corporate limits” of the city.
The city’s engineering and planning department and other municipal agencies can not “issue or approve any site plans, building permits, utility extensions, text amendments, zoning approvals, or development agreements for such facilities during this period,” the resolution adds.
The 12-month ban does not apply to facilities owned or operated by the Tennessee state government as well as services “that primarily support network operations,” the resolution says.
While the temporary ban is in place, the resolution instructs the city’s engineering and planning department to develop data center regulations and review land-use policy.
The resolution notes Loudon needs to “address land-use regulations for current and emerging technologies not yet fully covered by existing municipal planning and zoning regulations.”
The resolution casts doubt on the “long-term economic growth and employment opportunities” that data centers provide, as well as how data centers align with the city’s long-term economic goals.
On top of this, the resolution expresses concern about the amount of electricity and water data centers use to operate.
The city council “has a responsibility and duty to protect the health, safety, welfare, and property values of its citizens and ensure responsible land-use planning,” according to the resolution.
Other Tennessee local governments considering a 12-month pause on data centers are Memphis and Gallatin.
Loudon joins Davidson County, Coffee County, Knox County, Hamilton County, Wilson County, and the City of Knoxville as implementing temporary moratoriums.
The City of St. Joseph and Hawkins County have banned data centers.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected].
Photo “Data Center” by Tedder. CC BY-SA 4.0.
