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Committee advances restrictions on data centers, crypto mining; amendment adds utility and environmental checks
Summary
Blount County commissioners unanimously forwarded an amended resolution to limit data centers and cryptocurrency mining in unincorporated county areas, adding requirements for utility adequacy, soil/air protections and consideration of a moratorium before zoning changes are drafted.
At the June 11 Blount County workshop, commissioners voted unanimously to forward Resolution 266022 — a county-level framework to regulate data centers and cryptocurrency mining — to the planning commission for ordinance drafting, after adopting an amendment that adds utility-certification and environmental protections.
Commissioner Anderson, one of the sponsors, told the committee the proposal is modeled on other Tennessee counties’ approaches and is intended to make siting in unincorporated areas difficult without addressing local utility, environmental and land-use impacts. “This resolution is based on what Bradley County did,” Commissioner Anderson said, adding the draft would restrict large facilities to industrial areas and include additional restrictions to keep incompatible uses out of residential or suburban areas.
The amendment adopted in the workshop adds three items to the draft: a requirement that electricity and water utilities certify adequate provision to a proposed site without rate increases for other users; explicit provisions for soil- and air-quality protection; and a direction to study the advisability of a moratorium on such uses while final zoning language is prepared. That amendment passed on a 16–0 registration, and the amended resolution was forwarded 16–0 to the full commission.
Commissioners said the resolution is an early, high-level policy signal that will be refined by the planning commission into zoning ordinances and special-exception criteria. Commissioner Giles and other sponsors emphasized the intent to make inappropriate siting unlikely while leaving the formal rezoning and special-exception process intact.
The item will move through the planning process, where staff and the board of zoning appeals will review specific requests for exceptions or rezoning. Supporters encouraged residents to follow the planning commission process and provide input at those hearings.
