Gallatin council moves toward data center building moratorium
The Gallatin City Council voted to proceed with creating a moratorium on data center construction, despite the Mayor's assertion that the city is unlikely to see new data centers soon. The proposed moratorium would involve a zoning amendment and defining what constitutes a data center. Residents have expressed concerns about noise and water runoff from an existing Meta data center.
The Gallatin City Council has advanced plans to establish a moratorium on data center construction within the city. During a recent meeting, council members discussed the implications of such a moratorium, which Councilmember Susan High McAuley clarified would function as a zoning amendment requiring review by the planning commission.
A key challenge identified by McAuley is the current lack of a formal definition for a data center within city ordinances, which would need to be addressed in the resolution. Despite this move, Mayor Paige Brown expressed skepticism, noting that no new data centers have shown interest in Gallatin, though there have been inquiries about hydrogen and potential nuclear energy use. Brown also defended the existing Meta data center, highlighting its environmental conscientiousness and stating that city residents' sprinkler usage surpasses Meta's water consumption, suggesting much of the public information is inaccurate.
However, Councilmember Pascal Jouvence countered the mayor's comparison of Meta's water use to the entire city's sprinkler usage. Residents living near the existing Meta campus have reported negative impacts, including construction noise and water runoff causing property flooding. Ultimately, the council voted to proceed with the creation of the data center moratorium, positioning Gallatin alongside other Middle Tennessee cities considering similar development limits.