Piperton Planning Commission Amends Land Use Map Amid Data Center Opposition
Piperton’s planning commission amended the city’s future land use map, prompting residents to oppose the possibility that land could eventually be annexed and used for a data center. Millington has enacted a six-month data center moratorium, while a Shelby County moratorium has passed its first reading and is moving forward amid a related federal lawsuit over access to Memphis City Council meetings.
Piperton’s planning commission voted to amend the city’s future land use map, changing where officials anticipate future housing and business growth. City officials said the action did not rezone any property, but residents remain concerned that the land could eventually be annexed and developed as a data center. The city directed residents to the commission’s Oct. 20 meeting for more information.
In Millington, city leaders passed a resolution pausing all data center development for six months while guidelines are developed; the pause is scheduled to expire in April 2027 unless extended. Shelby County Commissioner Henry Brooks is hosting a public forum in Memphis about the effects of a data center moratorium, which he co-sponsors and which recently passed its first reading. Separately, members of Youth Action Network 101 and other residents, including co-founder and plaintiff Jasmine Bernard, filed a federal lawsuit against Memphis and the Memphis City Council over bans from council meetings and sought an emergency temporary restraining order that could allow them to attend an upcoming vote on a city data center moratorium.