By Jessica Wakeman
Asheville City Council unanimously approved a one-year moratorium on the development of data centers within city limits during its June 23 meeting.
Chris Collins, the city’s assistant director of planning and urban design, noted in his presentation to Council that there are no current applications to build data centers in Asheville. The moratorium will give the city time to study and develop policies for the potential impact data centers could have on issues such as water consumption and energy use.
City Attorney Brad Branham said moratoriums are “highly legally regulated” in North Carolina, and the city must meet several elements to enact one, including a valid purpose and a reasonable duration with an established end date.
Asheville joins a growing list of Buncombe County municipalities that have moved to regulate data centers. In May, Woodfin adopted a 12-month moratorium while it reviews its development regulations, and Black Mountain approved new zoning standards while directing staff to draft a possible moratorium. Weaverville approved restrictions on data centers and cryptocurrency mining facilities in April. Swain County, Clyde, Canton, Madison County and Brevard also have recently adopted measures regulating or restricting new projects.
Council member Maggie Ullman spoke in favor of the moratorium. “We didn’t spend decades becoming an amazing arts community, adding to our culture, having this amazing outdoor recreation and small boutiques so we could become a warehouse district for AI,” she said to public applause.
Council member Kim Roney confirmed that the moratorium would apply to cryptocurrency mining as well. She also requested that sound emanating from data centers be one of the aspects studied during the moratorium.
During public comment, Erik Olson asked if data centers could offer “real money” for Asheville and noted other municipalities have successfully negotiated limits regarding water and energy uses, as well as noise. “We clearly need to regulate and negotiate aggressively,” Olson said.
All other comments supported the moratorium.
Nina Tovish said she hoped the city would have “special consideration for the perils of certain kinds of land use for already disadvantaged neighborhoods and communities.”
Rachel Cohen from Sunrise Movement WNC said her organization is “very concerned about possible negative impacts” and noted other municipalities had renewable energy requirements established for approved data centers.
Rob Campbell urged Council to be cautious of rising utility rates tied to data centers. “We also need to acknowledge [data centers] are economically devastating for ratepayers,” he said.
The moratorium is now in effect.
https://mountainx.com/news/local-government/council-approves-one-year-moratorium-on-data-centers