Wilson County took a step toward implementing a moratorium on data centers.
On Monday, the Wilson County Planning and Zoning Committee advanced a resolution that would implement a six-month ban on new data center construction in the county.
The committee decided on a short-term ban for data centers rather than approving a resolution that would impose constraints on them.
Wilson’s county commission is expected to contemplate the resolution at its next meeting in July.
The resolution the committee axed was the one brought forward by County Commissioner Lauren Breeze. She said last week at the county committee meeting that she was working on a resolution to regulate data centers in the county.
Wilson County currently has no regulations for data centers, according to Breeze.
A member of the zoning committee, before requesting the six-month moratorium, called data centers a “hot topic” of discussion right now, noting the county needs “to do more due diligence” and “learn more about” data centers.
Changing the county’s ordinance “on a whim” is the “wrong way to proceed,” the committee member added.
Another board member pointed out that the counties surrounding Wilson County have implemented zoning regulations “without doing the research, and they have regrets.”
The resolution Breeze had the committee consider was modeled after the one from Warren County, Kentucky, which is about 90 minutes north of Wilson County. She said Warren County has a “robust ordinance.”
Breeze’s resolution would have required data centers to be at least 1,000 feet from agricultural, residential, or commercial zoning districts, according to Wilson County Planning Director Christopher Lawless.
He added the resolution would also have required data centers to obtain “verification and documentation” from utility companies, stating that their use of water and electricity would not burden ratepayers.
On top of this, the resolution would have required data centers to use a closed-loop cooling system, Lawless said.
Breeze explained she didn’t think Warren County “had the resources to host a data center.”
She noted she brought forth the resolution because it would be hard to legally enforce a moratorium.
In addition to Wilson County, other Tennessee counties have implemented data center moratoriums. Knox County and Coffee County have implemented one-year bans on data centers.
Davidson County is currently assessing a moratorium on data centers as it considers zoning regulations.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected].
