Earlier this month, the Coffee County Commission unanimously approved a one-year moratorium on data centers.

The resolution was presented to the commission at its June 9 meeting, following the Coffee County Planning Commission’s approval of the moratorium back in May. According to the resolution, data centers were defined as a “building or buildings that are occupied primarily by computers and/or telecommunications and related equipment where digital information is processed, transferred, and/or stored, primarily to and from off-site locations…This use shall also include cryptocurrency mining, blockchain transaction processing, and server farms.”

During its May meeting, the planning commission was presented with a suggestion for a 180-day moratorium by Coffee County Mayor Dennis Hunt. Hunt stated at the time that Coffee County was fortunate to be one of the 48 counties in the state with countywide zoning, which gives the county authority over “undesirable” land use.

“We cannot zone out any legal activity. We must have a place for all legal activity. Having said that, we can apply restrictions,” Hunt said.

Hunt also expressed concern with the planning commission that a data center could be interpreted as a permitted use in the A-1 agricultural district.  The proposed resolution would block that and limit datacenters to the M-2 Special Impact Industrial District, a more or less “no-man’s land” district that includes firework plants, refineries, mining activities and adult bookstores. The planning commission would unanimously approve the resolution and send it to the full commission.

At the time, the Department of the Air Force had announced plans to host Artificial Intelligence (AI) data centers on underutilized land at select Air Force bases through a lease of property in response to Trump’s executive orders. Arnold Air Force Base was one of five bases that offered a land lease; however, in an announcement released on June 1, base leadership was notified by the Air Force Civil Engineering Center that potential Enhanced Use Lease offerors will not be submitting proposals for Arnold AFB parcels for an AI Data Center, based on responses it had received from companies that participated in their multi-installation source selection process.

Before the meeting kicked off, a couple of citizens addressed the commission with their concerns about the negative impact data centers can have on the county, including how it would impact water supplies and the costs of both water and electricity to residents.

During public comment, Tullahoma resident Maureen Burke thanked the planning commission for proposing the moratorium on data centers.

“I think it’s a great thing to do to step back and look at the impacts,” Burke said.

Rural Coffee County resident Steven Arnold also thanked the full commission for considering the moratorium.

“We need to look at a lot of different factors, including the fact that AI firms are still building water-guzzling AI systems, not just closed-loop systems,” Arnold said.

Arnold asked when the full commission is working on rezoning, they take into consideration that AI firms will sometimes state that they are only building a 30-megawatt facility but in reality, would build a 100-megawatt mega structure.

“That’s a very high concern because then you have a lot of infrasound, noise pollution that travels very far and penetrates homes and can lead to health effects,” Arnold said. “I’m so glad that we’re going to be looking at all those things.” 

The resolution regarding the moratorium on data centers was the final item on the agenda to be presented and voted on by the full commission. When opened for discussion, Commissioner Dowe Jones took a moment to thank all the residents who cared enough about the moratorium to come forward and express their concerns about AI data centers.

“They are being heard with wide-open ears,” Jones said. “We appreciate that.”

With no further discussion or comments, the full commission unanimously approved the one-year moratorium on data centers within Coffee County.