Companies looking to build data centers in Nashville could soon face a new set of regulations.
Metro Councilmember Rollin Horton is sponsoring a zoning bill that would impose restrictions on the kinds of centers powering computers and AI that are allowed in Davidson County.
“I was observing a lot of the negative effects that data centers have had on communities both here in Tennessee and across the country, whether that's strains on electrical grids [or] pollution,” Horton tells Scene sister publication the Nashville Post.
“And so I looked to see what rules and restrictions we have on them in Nashville. The answer was none, and so this legislation is an effort to get in front of that and put some rules in place before it becomes a problem in Nashville.”
Under the bill, data centers that are more than 500,000 square feet — roughly the size of nine football fields — would be completely banned. Other data centers would be classified as small, medium and large. Medium and large data centers between 20,000 and 499,000 square feet would be allowed only in industrial zoning districts and prohibited in residential areas and mixed-use districts.
Large data centers would be subject to additional strict rules targeting where they operate, where they can be built and how they are approved. These centers would need a special exception from the Metro Board of Zoning Appeals and would require a public hearing, during which the public would have an opportunity to make their thoughts heard.
All data centers would have limitations on the level of noise they can emit. They bill says they are not allowed to exceed 65 decibels during the day and 55 decibels at night. The centers are also required to use a closed-loop water system that prevents polluted water from being dumped into community water sources.
Other regulations on emissions would be put in place to limit air pollution. This comes amid concerns of water and air pollution in Memphis by a massive data center owned by Elon Musk's company xAI. In addition, the facilities would be required to be sited a certain distance, depending on the size of the center, from residential areas, daycares, religious institutions, parks, zoos and other data centers.
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Earlier this month Fisk University announced a $1 billion campus master plan set to include a a 70,000-square-foot data center. Fisk President Agenia Clark told the Post last week that the center is expected to be nonintrusive to the North Nashville community, with a press release from the university noting the center will “utilize advanced technologies to limit energy and water consumption, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and drive greater sustainability.”
Horton, who oversees District 20 in West Nashville, said his bill is not a direct response to Fisk’s recent proposal, but rather is meant as a step toward regulating data centers as their presence continues to multiply across the U.S.
According to Data Center Map, there are 61 data centers either under construction or already operational in Tennessee, including 27 in Nashville.
The Metro Council will consider the bill on its first of three readings on June 2.
This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
