Data center construction, and its possible impact to the environment, has become an issue for towns and counties across the country.
The Town of Franklin will hold a public hearing on Monday, July 6, to get public input on a proposed ordinance that would establish a 12-month moratorium on data center development within the town and its extra territorial jurisdiction (ETJ).
The public hearing will be held as part of the Franklin Town Council’s monthly meeting that begins at 6 p.m. in the board room on the lower level of Town Hall.
At the Town Council meeting in June, town attorney John Henning noted other local governments were adopting similar ordinances.
“I began to be concerned that if you’re the last one that adopts a moratorium, then you become the target for that kind of development,” Henning said.
The proposed ordinance states the town’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) “lacks sufficient definition of data center use to ensure preservation of the health, safety and welfare” of the citizens.
Town Manager Amie Owens said the town has not been approached by anyone wanting to develop a data center in Franklin, but there are parcels within the ETJ that would be large enough to accommodate data center development.
Owens said the main infrastructure concern is the water system. Data centers require substantial water for cooling. Mid-sized facilities can use up to 300,000 gallons per day, according to Owens. The town's water treatment plant is rated to two million gallons per day and averages approximately 1.05 million gallons daily.
“Adding a large consumer such as a data center could change the treatment schedule including additional treatment cycles and reduce overall capacity for additional development. This would ultimately impact utility rates due to necessary plant upgrades and chemical costs for treatment,” Owens said. “The town is being proactive in its consideration of a moratorium to study not only the impacts to the water system, but additional concerns about electricity demand, noise and land use compatibility.”
Defining a data center
The ordinance states the term “data center” would mean “an establishment engaged in the storage, management, processing and/or transmission of digital data, which houses computer and/or network equipment, systems, servers, appliances, and other associated components related to digital data operations, including the operation of a server farm and/or cryptocurrency mining.”
What the ordinance proposes
The proposed ordinance states the temporary moratorium would give the town time to evaluate the impacts of data center development on infrastructure and town services, utility capacity, to develop zoning standards, evaluate environmental and stormwater impacts, and consider amendments to the town’s UDO and Comprehensive Plan.
The moratorium would apply to data center development rezoning applications, conditional zoning applications, special use permits, site plan approvals, subdivision approvals, building permits, land use disturbance permits, and other development approvals required by the UDO.
What the town will do
If approved, the ordinance states during the 12-month period, the town will:
- Review existing Comprehensive Plan and UDO provisions;
- Evaluate infrastructure and utility capacity impacts;
- Consult with utility providers, engineers, planners and legal counsel;
- Conduct public meetings and stakeholder engagement;
- Prepare and consider draft ordinance amendments regulating data center development;
- Consider amendments to the Comprehensive Plan, the UDO and related land use policies.
Macon County regulations
Franklin’s proposed ordinance would apply only to property within the town limits and its ETJ. The Macon County Board of Commissioners amended its High-Impact Land Use ordinance in June 2023 to include crypto mining (and/or similar server-based facilities) within the county’s jurisdiction.
The ordinance amendment also added residential to the list of areas where such facilities would be restricted. The county's ordinance restricts the hours of operation for high impact uses to 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.; most data centers operate 24 hours a day.
Joe Allen, director of planning, permitting and development for the county, said the county does not have a policy that specifically addresses data center development but if there were changes to regulate data centers it would be through the High Impact Ordinance, likely under the crypto mining section.
He said any additional changes or the adoption of a moratorium would be something the Board of Commissioners would have to take up.
Allen and County Manager Warren Cabe said the county has not received any requests for a data center development.