Morristown has become the latest East Tennessee city to put rules on where data centers can go. The city council on Tuesday passed an ordinance on second reading, 6-1, that limits data centers to heavy industrial zones and sets distance and design requirements, WVLT reported.
What the ordinance requires
According to WVLT, zoning officials recommended that data centers be allowed only in Morristown's "Heavy Industrial District" zones, and only if they meet three conditions:
- The facility must be at least 500 feet from any residential property or residential district.
- It must be at least 500 feet from any school or occupied government building.
- All equipment associated with the use must be located inside a building.
The ordinance also sets basic definitions for what counts as a data center. WVLT reported the city is mainly concerned with facilities full of computing equipment that process data for cryptocurrency mining, artificial intelligence and server hosting.
Why the city acted
The ordinance's own language explains the push. "As technology continues to shift in capacity and increased ability, there is the ever need to continuously review and update the zoning ordinance and potential uses," it reads, according to WVLT. "This is especially the case in the rise in data centers such as cryptocurrency mining and artificial intelligence centers and what regulations the city should place on such."
WVLT noted data centers have made headlines after people living nearby reported loud operating noise and heavy electricity and water use. The station said Morristown joins many other East Tennessee towns, cities and communities that have placed limits on where and how data centers can be built and run.
Part of a regional trend
Morristown isn't alone. Just down the road in the Knoxville area, Blount County commissioners this week approved a separate yearlong data center moratorium that still needs planning commission approval. Across the country, local governments from California to Arkansas to Georgia are debating moratoriums, zoning standards and outside oversight for data center projects.
Morristown took a different approach than an outright pause. Rather than stopping projects while it studies the issue, it wrote rules that tell developers up front where a data center can go and what it has to look like on the site.
Why it matters for contractors
Data centers are some of the biggest construction jobs around, and they bring work for site contractors, concrete and steel crews, electricians, mechanical contractors and specialty trades. Rules like Morristown's don't ban that work, but they steer it.
The heavy industrial requirement narrows the list of possible sites in the city. The 500-foot setbacks from homes, schools and occupied government buildings can knock out parcels on the edge of industrial areas. And the requirement that all equipment sit inside a building changes the scope of work: cooling equipment, generators and other gear that might otherwise sit on pads outdoors would need to be enclosed, which can mean bigger buildings, more structural work and more attention to ventilation and sound.
For contractors in the Lakeway region, the takeaway is that data center work in Morristown, if it comes, should land in established industrial areas with clearer rules than before. For developers, a defined set of standards can actually make planning easier than a case-by-case fight. Contractors bidding data center work anywhere in East Tennessee should expect more local rules like these and should read each city's zoning before pricing a job.