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Metro Council on Tuesday approved strict new regulations for data centers in Nashville, but a top city zoning official says they don't apply to a controversial project planned near the Nashville Zoo.
- The city also paused approving any new data centers until Dec. 1.
Why it matters: DC Blox appears to have the legal footing to move forward with its controversial plans for a medium-sized, 10-megawatt data center, though the moratorium will apparently delay construction for several months.
Driving the news: Council approved new regulations that ban giant data centers in Nashville, and restrict where smaller ones can go by imposing buffers in residential areas and along busy roads.
- Council also approved the temporary moratorium proposed by Councilmember Courtney Johnston.
Yes, but: Tennessee law protects the DC Blox project, according to a letter sent this week from the Metro Zoning Administrator Joel Hargis to members of the city's Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA).
- "The proposed land uses being considered by the Council is not applicable to this project due to Tennessee's Vested Rights Statues," Hargis told the board in his Tuesday letter.
- The law says a permit must be considered based on the regulations in place at the time of its application. DC Blox has already applied for demolition, grading and building permits.
State of play: The city initially designated the DC Blox property as general office use. That designation triggered two appeals — one from Johnston and one from an attorney for the zoo — to the BZA.
- In his Tuesday letter, Hargis said he amended the classification for the DC Blox property from office use to warehouse with incidental general office.
- Both warehouse and office uses are allowed under the current zoning for the DC Blox property, according to Hargis' letter.
The other side: Johnston tells Axios she disagrees with Hargis' opinion that the DC Blox proposal is already vested.
- "A massive, power-intensive digital infrastructure facility is not a general office or a warehouse," she says. "Telecommunications was the closest use in our existing code, and it comes with conditions. You can't simply choose a more convenient classification to avoid those protections."
What's next: The moratorium approved by the council also paused BZA hearings for data center-related appeals until December.
- Council also advanced Mayor Freddie O'Connell's proposal to use eminent domain to condemn and take ownership of the DC Blox property. DC Blox closed on the $23 million sale last week.
- The eminent domain legislation will be up for final council approval next month.
