JOHN COFFELT Contributor

The Coffee County Commission passed a resolution during the Oct. 13 meeting that defines and adds specific requirements for data centers and their accessory uses.

 The Coffee County Planning Commission finalized during the Sept. 22 meeting the zoning amendment creating the amendment after four planning meetings that included contributions from the county’s consulting professional planner and the county attorney.

Coffee County enacted a moratorium on data centers in June and also amended zoning resolutions to limit data centers to a special exception use in M-2 Industrial district. The proposed amendment would enact additional restrictions including additional setbacks, mandate noise testing and discuss impacts on utilities and the environment.

The regulations are envisioned as a strong deterrent to the development of data centers in the county.

“We’ve had several questions, ‘why don’t you just ban them?’” said Planning Chairman Steve Cunningham. “If it’s a legal use, the worst situation you can have is to ban something because that is going to open up a lawsuit.”

“What we are trying to do is regulate them to the best of our ability. And to be honest, we would like to see them go somewhere else,” he said.

County Attorney Mark Williams added, “We can’t make a zoning regulation so impossible that it excludes any lawful business, but we can certainly make it where they have to comply with reasonable rules and regulations.”

Williams concluded that, with the level of regulations that the county is seeking, someone wanting to develop a data center in Tennessee would probably go to one of the many counties that doesn’t have zoning regulations.

County Mayor Dennis Hunt noted that only 48 of Tennessee’s 95 counties have zoning resolutions. He also said he was informed of a data center developer suing a governmental entity over their setbacks.

Currently the county’s only M-2 district is for the quarry in Hillsboro. M-2 is reserved for special impact uses like adult entertainment facilities, quarries and explosive plants.

County Planner Amanda Harrington with Rhinehart Consulting Services commended the planning commission on the work members put into shaping the resolution amendment. She noted that the county is one of the front runners in the state in creating this type of zoning regulations.

Included in the resolution are restrictions that limit the building to a height of 35 feet, 500-foot setbacks for any other zoned property, a requirement for a sound study that shows a maximum decibel level of 67 dB (a) during daytime and 57 dB (a) at night.

The restrictions limit water service to kitchen and bathroom use. A water feasibility will be required for approval. Power supply restrictions limit the negative impact to the local community. County Mayor Dennis Hunt called the resolution a living document that can be amended to address further impact concerns as they become better known in the future.