Gainesboro passed the first reading of an ordinance Thursday to restrict data processing facilities to industrial zones to ensure the town’s infrastructure and resources are not over-extended.
Alderman Tom Goetz said the ordinance is ultimately to protect the city.
“And we’re… We don’t have enough water for anybody to have a data center to start with,” Goetz said, “So I don’t know why they’d be looking for us, but it’s just a hedge of protection is what this does for us.”
Goetz said the ordinance requires developers to provide complete environmental and impact studies to the board before construction is permitted.
Alderman Deborah Whittaker said Jackson County has signed a moratorium for at least 18 months while officials study the viability of providing water to these centers. Whittaker said the study period will allow the state to help local officials determine the potential effects on the community.
“I mean, we need to really look into what happens to our land, what happens to our water, what happens to everything,” Alderman Smith Young said. “It worries me.”
Mayor Lloyd Williams said the town attorney advised that a moratorium or zoning restriction is necessary to prevent potential lawsuits and allow for further study. Lloyd said a local sound specialist has offered to assist with environmental impact research during the study period.
“So Ms. Kayla, she’s county attorney also, and she advised us that we could open up a whole lot of bad windows, I guess,” Lloyd said. “You know, we could open up, possibly get sued and all that. And that’s why she advised us for right now to do a moratorium so we could do more of a study on it or something like that, something the county city may be able to piggyback on each other or something like that, because the county uses the city water.”
Whittaker said the Gainesboro Regional Planning Commission recommended the zoning change to ensure data centers are only allowed in industrial districts. Whittaker said some facilities in other areas have sought permission to pull water directly from rivers, which often leads to legal challenges.
“I think Shannon was pretty thorough with it. We, we went, went with it over several meetings,” Whittaker said. “And so I feel like it’s pretty solid as far as protection for the town.”
The ordinance will require a second reading before it is officially adopted into the town’s zoning code.
