LAWRENCE CO, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Lawrence County Commission voted to table a resolution for a one-year data center moratorium. The vote was 13-5. After the votes were cast, you could hear a loud negative response from the crowd, with several yelling, "Boo," to county leadership.
The effort to bring the moratorium up for a vote stems from a planned data center in Lawrenceburg, where many residents feel the facility was pushed through with no community input. While the resolution would not have impacted the project, many felt it would have protected acres of county land.
"If we table this resolution or strike it down, that is the equivalent of rolling out the red carpet for the potential of hyper scale data centers to move into our communities like they are in other areas. Voting against this, is voting for us to no longer be the Lawrence County as we know it," said one woman during public comment.
The County Commissioner who proposed tabling the moratorium expressed concerns over legal implications of enacting the resolution. The resolution would have also created a Data Center and Land Use Study Committee. It would not have created zoning. It would have created a committee to study the impacts of data centers to the environment and infrastructure and look into potential zoning or land use tools for the county. Currently, there is no county-wide zoning in Lawrence County.
On social media, County Commissioner Scott Franks said in order for a moratorium to work, zoning must be in place.
"Therefore, since Lawrence County has no Zoning, no such moratorium can be legally imposed. If the County Commission were to attempt to impose it, the moratorium would not even be enforceable. If it was attempted to be enforced, then it would easily open the County to legal jeopardy including legal fees and punitive damages awarded by a Court," he posts reads.
Shane Eaton is the one of the commissioners who sponsored the resolution. He said his next steps will be working with those who voted to table the moratorium to address their concerns.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Megan.Scarano@NewsChannel5.com
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