Rick Patrick
rick@greenepublishing.com
During a meeting of the Madison County Planning and Zoning Board on Wednesday, July 1, the Board approved a temporary moratorium on large data centers. Madison County attorney Tom Reeves presented a proposed ordinance calling for a “temporary moratorium on the acceptance, review, processing or approval of any applications (including applications pending prior to the effective date of this ordinance) for any land use change, rezoning, conditional use permit, development permit, site plan approval, building permits, or other development approval for the construction, expansion or operation of data center facilities.” The proposed ordinance is similar to one previously proposed to the Madison County Board of County Commissioners, with some changes. The changes made brought the ordinance in line with legislation, namely Senate Bill 484, which had just been signed into law.
The legislation defines data centers as “a facility that primarily contains electronic equipment used to process, store and transmit digital information, which may be a free standing structure or a facility within a larger structure which uses environmental control equipment to maintain the proper conditions for the operation of electronic equipment.” The legislation goes on to define a “large-scale data center” as a “single location, with a data center on site, that has an anticipated monthly peak load of 50 megawatts or more.” The ordinance proposed uses the same definitions as the recently passed legislation.
The purpose of the moratorium is to allow county staff to study and make recommendations regarding the regulation of possible data centers. This includes the possible affects on power usage, along with the use of water and other natural resources. The length of the moratorium will be from the effective date of the moratorium until June 15, 2027. The moratorium could be extended, should that be deemed necessary.
During the meeting, several citizens spoke in favor of the moratorium. They cited concerns such as water usage, the effect on power bills and even health concerns over low sound frequencies thought to be generated by possible large-scale data centers.
The Planning and Zoning Board approved the proposed moratorium with a unanimous vote. The ordinance will now go before the Board of County Commissioners, where it will have two more public hearings before a final vote by the commissioners. The proposed ordinance will have a public hearing during the next regular meeting of the Madison County Board of County Commissioners, which is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, July 8, at 9 a.m. The meeting will take place in the meeting room of the Madison County Courthouse Annex, located at 229 SW Pinckney St., in Madison.