Bradley County passes strict new regulations against data centers

CLEVELAND, Tenn. (WDEF)- “Because I care much about this child and what you guys are voting, (me speaking is for) this gal right here.”

Tyler Ownby, holding his daughter in his arms, was one of over 30 residents to speak to the Bradley County Commission on Monday to voice their fears about possible data centers.

Last week, we heard from residents of northern Bradley County that they are concerned a data center is coming next door.

A letter was circulated among residents in the Charleston area last week that claimed it was going to be built near Walker Valley High School, prompting a standing room only crowd inside of the Bradley County Courthouse in Cleveland.

Common talking points among the speakers were possible effects on energy costs, noise pollution, and if these centers were safe.

One resident, Matt Jenkins, said, “The thought of your power bill increasing from saying $200 a month to $600-650 a month when you’re just on a Social Security budget or something like that, it’s crippling.”

Another resident, Nikki Johnson-Corley, who lives next door to the property at the center of neighbors’ concerns in Charleston, told the commission, “You can’t sit there and tell me and tell the rest of our constituents out here that there isn’t (a proposal). We call BS because we know better.”

In response, new regulations, which were strengthened during the meeting, placed limitations on how close data centers could be to residential areas, schools, and farming areas.

Effectively, data centers and cryptocurrency mining operations would only be approved in a I-2 zone, which is a Special Impact Industrial District.

Currently, there is only one I-2 district in the entire county, which is the Bradley County Landfill.

The new stipulations presented by Commissioner Louie Alford, who is a commissioner for Bradley County’s District 2, the area that covers the Charleston area, include:

• Data centers/cryptocurrency mining operations cannot be adjacent or within 3,000 feet of any Forestry Agricultural Residential (FAR), R-1 or R-2 zone.
• They also will not be able to be within 3,000 feet of any existing residential dwellings, schools, or churches.

Up until now, Bradley County had no such regulation.

The resolution’s sponsor, Commissioner Josh Rogers of Bradley County’s District 7, said, “This vote is not about setting the table for a facility to come in. It’s not about setting the way for development. It’s about making sure we keep Bradley County Bradley County.”

Commissioners said during the meeting that these new regulations are the strictest regulations they can pass without Bradley County being sued as Hawkins County in northeastern Tennessee is being sued by the Beacon Center over a blanket ban.

The Beacon Center in that federal lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of East Tennessee says that banning data centers outright violates the private property rights of the business owners of legal industries.

Bradley County Attorney Crystal Frieberg said, “If you try to do an outright ban on business, zoning regulations are in place and you have to fit businesses in a zone. If you don’t do that, you are constitutionally suspect, you will be sued.”

Commissioner Milan Blake of Bradley County’s District 3 in response explained to the audience, “(These regulations) are basically a way it makes it a 99.9% impossible (to get approved). Rounded up that’s almost completely impossible.”

Despite the unanimous approval of the new regulations with a standing ovation, some after the meeting say that they are concerned they don’t go far enough.

Johnson-Corley told us, “I think it’s a step in the right direction. I don’t think it’s fixed. I think that the best vote today would be a absolute no to any of these types of centers whether it be crypto mining or an AI center or a data center, I think it should be a no for anywhere in the county of Bradley County.”

She says neighbors will be keeping their eyes on future developments closely.

Johnson-Corley said, “We were in church this past Sunday and our preacher preached on the fact that as the people in the community, we’ve gotta wake up, we gotta stand up. We gotta show up and I think that’s exactly what Charleston and Bradley County did today.”

This resolution immediately takes effect, meaning any future data center or cryptocurrency mining operations would be subjected to the new rules.

Bradley County Mayor Gary Davis posted the following statement on social media following the vote:

“Today, the Bradley County Commission voted unanimously to put the strictest zoning regulations possible in place to better protect our county and our community from projects of this nature. After the meeting, I was proud to sign the resolution that passed and helped make it official, alongside County Commission Chairman Tom Crye and County Clerk Donna Simpson. This has been a public process that has been worked on for months, and I have supported that effort from the beginning and worked in my role to help see it through. While this issue had been under discussion for quite some time, it only gained broad public attention over the last week, and I’m grateful that it did. It was encouraging to see so many people get engaged, ask questions, reach out, and show up. That is a good reminder of how important it is for the public to stay involved and follow the process. I also want to thank the hundreds of people who reached out to me, to commissioners, and to other public officials on this issue. Your voices mattered. I was proud to see the meeting room packed out and the hallways filled. I wish more of our meetings looked like that.”

County officials say they were not already considering any active proposals, as all publicly pledged they have not signed any non-disclosure agreements with any potential companies.

It is worth noting the companies we reached out to last week concerning the Charleston property that neighbors raised concerns about have not responded to our inquiries.