Morristown, Tennessee, now has zoning rules for data centers. The Morristown City Council passed the ordinance on second and final reading two weeks ago Tuesday, by a 6-1 vote, WVLT reported.
Until now the city's zoning ordinance did not mention data centers at all. The change gives builders and landowners a clear answer on where one could go in Morristown and what it would take.
Where a data center can be built
Under the new rules, a data center is allowed only in the Heavy Industrial (HI) district, and only as a "use on review." That means each project still goes before the Morristown Regional Planning Commission instead of being allowed outright. A site must also meet three conditions:
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- at least 500 feet from any residential property or residential district
- at least 500 feet from any school or occupied government building
- all equipment for the use kept inside a building
What counts as a data center
The ordinance adds four definitions to the zoning code, according to the city staff memo and ordinance attached to the council agenda. A data center is any building mostly filled with computers and telecommunications equipment that process, move or store information. That covers server farms, cryptocurrency mining and artificial intelligence data centers. Each of those also gets its own definition.
Small home setups are left out. The crypto mining definition does not cover five or fewer computers mining in an enclosed structure when the mining is not commercial.
How it got here
Senior Planner Josh Cole wrote that staff reviewed codes from around the region before drafting the amendment. The planning commission voted in support of it at its September meeting, and it then went to council for two readings.
The Citizen Tribune reported that the council approved rules on where data centers "and other high-electricity-usage facilities can locate," and its headline says more restrictions are under consideration.
Why cities are writing these rules
Data centers have been in the news after people living nearby reported loud operating noise and heavy electricity and water use, WVLT noted. The station called Morristown the latest in a series of East Tennessee towns and cities to set limits on new data centers.
Sources
- Morristown City Council passes limits on how, where data centers are built and operated, WVLT
- Data Center Text Amendment memo and ordinance, City of Morristown
- Morristown adopts data center regulations, more restrictions under consideration, Citizen Tribune
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