McMinnville launching ‘research and information-gathering process’ into data centers after passing development moratorium
McMinnville, Tennessee, has enacted an 18-month moratorium on data center development following the revelation of plans for the Hixson Data Center. The city is now initiating a comprehensive research and information-gathering process, including two upcoming town halls, to address community concerns and explore regulatory pathways.
McMinnville, Tennessee, has initiated a comprehensive research and information-gathering process after enacting an 18-month moratorium on data center development. The city's action, passed on June 3, prohibits the acceptance and approval of land use, zoning, building, site plan, and conditional use permits for data centers and high-density computing systems.
This moratorium, which also mandates impact studies for data centers, was implemented shortly after plans surfaced for the Hixson Data Center. This proposed facility, not yet formally approved, is described as a "medium-scale, high-density GPU campus" for AI workloads with a 25-megawatt power capacity.
As part of its new initiative, McMinnville officials are scheduled to host two town halls on June 25 and June 29 at City Hall. These meetings aim to discuss the historical context, current regulations, and potential new regulatory frameworks to address community concerns. In-person attendance will be limited to 40 people, but the town halls will be livestreamed on the City's Facebook and YouTube channels.