![\"Smithville](\"https:\/\/www.wjle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/IMG_8259.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAlthough data centers are currently not permitted within the City of Smithville according to the zoning ordinance, the mayor and aldermen are considering perhaps adding more restrictions.<\/p>\n
As expected, the mayor and aldermen met in special called session Wednesday evening and adopted an ordinance imposing a temporary 18 month moratorium on the acceptance, processing, and approval of an application for building permits, zoning certificates, site plans, variances, and special exceptions related to high density computing, data centers, and crypto currency mining operations within the city pending the study and adoption of updated zoning and land use regulations.<\/p>\n
Second and final reading will follow a public hearing at the next meeting Monday, August 3 at 6 p.m. at city hall.<\/p>\n
No such data center land use applications have been filed with the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will give you some time to know a little more about data centers and crypto centers,\u201d said City Attorney Vester Parsley. \u201cWe know that they are big consumers of power. I talked to the city attorney in McMinnville, and they have also done a moratorium. They are sort of in the same position we are. They don\u2019t know enough about it to know what to do with them. This would just give us an opportunity to study them more and see what zones they should be in and how to go forward with dealing with these businesses,\u201d said Parsley.<\/p>\n
The ordinance #543 states as follows:<\/p>\n
\u201cAn ordinance of the Board of Aldermen of the City of Smithville, Tennessee, imposing a temporary 18 month moratorium on the acceptance, \u00a0processing, and approval of applications for building permits, zoning certificates, site plans, variances, and special exemptions related to high density, computing, data centers, and cryptocurrency mining operations within the corporate limits of Smithville, Tennessee, pending the study and adoption of updated zoning and land use regulations\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhereas, the City of Smithville, Tennessee, possesses the authority under Tennessee Code Annotated \u00a0to enact and amend zoning ordinances to promote the health, safety, morals, convenience, order, prosperity, and general welfare of the municipality and its citizens; and<\/p>\n
Whereas, \u201cHigh-Density Computing\u201d, \u201cData Centers\u201d, and Cryptocurrency Mining Operations\u201d utilize specialized, high powered computer hardware running continuously, which generates distinct, unique municipal concerns including, but not limited to, continuous high-frequency noise pollution from cooling systems, exceptional electrical grid load demands, excessive water resource consumption,, and the rapid generation of electronic waste; and<\/p>\n
Whereas, the establishment of such operations without strict municipal oversight, robust noise mitigation, large acreage buffers, and environmental protections poses a direct threat to the quiet enjoyment, small town character, economic stability, and overall harmony of the citizens of Smithville; and<\/p>\n
Whereas, a temporary moratorium is necessary to allow the Smithville Planning Commission, Codes Enforcement, and the Board of Aldermen sufficient time to study the impacts of these technologies, draft comprehensive zoning amendments, and hold required public hearings without being rushed by pending applications that could create non-conforming uses.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, therefore, be it ordained by the Board of Aldermen of the City of Smithville, Tennessee, as follows:<\/p>\n
Section 1. Moratorium Imposed. A temporary moratorium is hereby established on the acceptance, review, processing, tabling, or approval by any city official, department, or board of any application for a building permit, zoning permit, variance, site plan review, or special exception for any property intended to be used, in whole or in part, for cryptocurrency mining or high-density computing operations within the corporate limits of Smithville, Tennessee.<\/p>\n
Section 2. Definition. For the purposes of this Ordinance, \u201cCryptocurrency Mining\u201d or High-Density Computing\u201d shall mean the operation of data processing facilities, server farms, or specialized computer hardware (including but not limited to Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) networks) dedicated to the validation of blockchain transactions or data storage characterized by high energy consumption and intensive mechanical cooling requirements.<\/p>\n
Section 3. Duration. This moratorium shall remain in full force and effect for a period of eighteen months from the date of final passage of the Ordinance, or until the Board of Aldermen adopts comprehensive permanent zoning amendments regulating such uses, whichever occurs first. The Board of Aldermen reserves the right to extend this moratorium by ordinance amendment of additional time as reasonably required to complete the legislative process.<\/p>\n
Section 4. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of the Ordinance is for any reason held to be unconstitutional or invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance\u201d<\/p>\n
Section 5. Effective date. This Ordinance shall take effect from and after its passage, the public welfare requiring it\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jul 16, 2026Dwayne Page Although data centers are currently not permitted within the City of Smithville according to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244892,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[128,130,129],"class_list":["post-244891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}