On the agenda: Fayette County Comm. Committees - Dev, Health, Personnel — Data Center (Nov 9)

FAYETTE COUNTY
Committee Agendas
Monday, November 9, 2026 – 7:00 PM
Bill G. Kelley Criminal Justice Complex
Personnel - Not Meeting
Health & Welfare - 6:15 pm
1.

Ambulance Report

2.

Solid Waste - Hauling Discussion

Development - 7:00 pm
1.

Airport Report

2.

Airshow Budget - 2027

3.

Rezoning - B-1 to R-6 (Urban Services Residential) - Grant Road

AI - Data Center Regulation Committee (After Development Comm.)
1.

Data Center Staff Report on Proposed Regulations
● CTAS Model Policy
● Chadwick Proposed Regulations

Fayette County
Committee
Monday, November 9, 2026
Page 1 of 1
Page 1 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY AIRSHOW 2027 - INITIAL DRAFT BUDGET
As of
Description

11/4/2026
2026 Actual

2027 Budget

EXPENSES
Airboss

$2,500

$3,500

Announcer

$3,500

$3,500

$119,273

$120,000

Miscellaneous Performer Expenses (Oil, F&B, etc.)

$865

$2,000

Pilot Hospitality Expenses (F&B, Gift Bags, etc.)

$120

$200

Airshow Performers

Performer Recruitment - ICAS Convention
TOTAL PERFORMANCE COSTS

$2,500
$126,258

$131,700

Restrooms (VIP Trailers & Port-a-Johns)

$5,410

$7,500

Grab Cones, Traffic Cones, etc.

$1,825

$2,500

$496

$1,000

$5,583

$6,500

Hats for Sponsors and Resale

$528

$2,000

Inflatables for Kid Zone

$870

$2,000

Audio System

$11,058

$15,000

Liability Insurance

$2,588

$2,600

Misc. Logistics Expenses
T-Shirts for Sponsors and Resale

Weather Insurance

-

Banners & Signage

$1,193

$2,500

Hotel Rooms

$3,275

$5,500

Rentals (Tables, Chairs, Misc.)

$8,857

$12,000

Golf Cart Rentals

$1,210

$1,500

Light Towers

$1,100

$1,500

Rental Cars

$3,292

$3,750

School Bus Transportation

$3,309

$4,000

Fayette County Personnel

$6,000

$6,000

Management Services

$5,000

$30,000

TOTAL LOGISTICS EXPENSE

$61,594

$105,850

Page 2 of 64

Social Media Ads

$5,000

$10,000

Social Media Ad Development & Placement Services

$4,000

$5,000

Media Day

$1,500

Miscellaneous Marketing Expenses

$175

$1,000

TOTAL MARKETING EXPENSE

$9,175

$17,500

Volunteer Hospitality & Miscellaneous

$1,449

$2,500

TOTAL VOLUNTEER EXPENSE

$1,449

$2,500

VIP Area - Food, Beverage and F&B Supplies

$10,068

$13,000

$206

$1,000

TOTAL VIP AREA

$10,274

$14,000

Ticketing Platform - AttendStar

$6,000

$7,500

Miscellaneous VIP Expenses

Text Alert Fees

-

Credit Card & Misc. Fees

-

TOTAL TICKETING & CREDIT CARD EXPENSE

$6,000

$7,500

$214,750

$279,050

Sponsorships

$117,025

$125,000

TOTAL SPONSORSHIPS

$117,025

$125,000

Pre-Event

$90,245

$97,000

Day-Of Sales Saturday

$25,364

$33,000

$115,609

$130,000

$5,142

$6,500

Hat Sales

$580

$2,000

Silent Auction

$995

$2,000

$1,353

$3,000

$8,070

$13,500

TOTAL REVENUE

$240,704

$268,500

NET OUTCOME

$25,954

($10,550)

TOTAL EXPENSES
REVENUE

Ticket Sales (Including Parking)

TOTAL TICKET SALES

T-Shirt Sales

TOTAL OTHER REVENUE

Page 3 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE
Regional Planning Commission
Staff Report
TO:

County Commissioners

FROM:

Jim Atkinson

MEETING CYCLE:

November 2026

SUBJECT:

Application for Rezoning from B-1 (Limited Business) to R6 (Urban Services Residential) for a property located at 75
Grant Road (Tax Map 097G, Parcel 015.00).

INTRODUCTION
The applicant is requesting approval to rezone the property located at 75 Grant Road from B-1
(Limited Business) to R-6 (Urban Services Residential).
The property is currently zoned commercial, but the owner desires to use the property for a
residence. A residential use would not be permitted in the B-1 district.
From viewing the map below, the B-1 zoning seems very out of place. In fact, there are several
properties in the area that are within a neighborhood, but zoned B-1. It is unclear as to when or
why the zoning districts were placed in this manner.
A rezoning to R-6 would match most properties within the neighborhood, and would be a better
match to the character of the neighborhood.

Page 4 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE
Regional Planning Commission
Staff Report
Zoning Map

Commission Authority
The current application is for a rezoning only; the County Commission is not considering specific
site design currently or granting permits for any specific use. The County Commission will be
considering whether the R-6 zoning designation is appropriate for the subject property and
examining potential impacts to the neighborhood from allowed uses and site design
requirements permitted in the R-6 district.
ZONING RESOLUTION AUTHORITY
The Fayette County Zoning Resolution provides a process for amending the zoning designation
of a property. According to Article IV, a zoning amendment must include a public hearing before
both the Planning Commission and Board of Commissioners. The planning commission held a
public hearing on November 2, 2026 and recommended approval of the rezoning. The
amendment language from the Zoning Resolution is provided below.

Page 5 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE
Regional Planning Commission
Staff Report
ARTICLE IV – AMENDMENT
Section 1

Zoning Amendment Petition. The Fayette County Board of Commissioners may amend the
number, shape, boundary, area, or any regulation of or within any district or any other
provision of this Resolution upon petition by any person or official board.

Section 2

Planning Commission Review. No amendment shall be adopted unless it has been
submitted for approval, disapproval or suggestions to the Fayette County Regional Planning
Commission, and the absence of formal action by the planning commission within thirty-five
(35) days after it holds a public hearing on the proposed amendment shall be considered as
approval by the planning commission.

Section 3

Public Hearings on Proposed Amendment. No amendment shall be adopted unless the
Fayette County Regional Planning Commission and the Board of Commissioners each shall
have held a public hearing thereon. The time and place of such public hearings and the
amendment’s content shall be advertised by at least one (1) publication in a newspaper of
general circulation in Fayette County at least five (5) days in advance of the planning
commission hearing and at least fifteen (15) days in advance of the Board of Commissioners
hearing.

Section 4

Amendment Not Approved. Any amendment not approved within seventy (70) days after the
Board of Commissioners’ call to order on the occasion of the public hearing advertised for the
amendment shall not be resubmitted for two (2) years following its publication date.

Section 5

Amendment Withdrawn. Any amendment withdrawn prior to the Board of Commissioners’
call to order on the occasion of the public hearing advertised for the amendment but after
advertisement of the public hearing shall not be resubmitted for one (1) year following its
withdrawal date.

Page 6 of 64

TO:

Data Center Regulations Review Committee

FROM:

Jim Atkinson

MEETING DATE:

November 9, 2026

SUBJECT:

Review of Data Center draft regulations

BACKGROUND
The Committee received a model ordinance from the UT Center for Local Planning as a
starting point for discussion. Since the last meeting, the County received a draft resolution
from a Fayette County resident, Connie Chadwick, to review and consider. The newly
submitted resolution is attached, and the comments below refer to the new draft.

RECCOMMENDATION
Retain the October 26, 2026 Fayette County draft (Chadwick) as the primary working
document. It already incorporates most of the useful protections in the UT Center for Local
Planning municipal model and establishes a more restrictive county approach.
Direct staff to prepare a revised draft addressing the additions and corrections below, plus
additional comments discussed at the Committee Meeting, with County Attorney review
before referral for formal adoption.
This report recommends general policy revisions; it does not amend the working draft or
recommend adoption of either document as submitted.

DISCUSSION
The following discussion items reference the Chadwick draft resolution.

1. Separation from Other Data Centers and Solar Facilities
Section 23.9.1
The draft requires 1.5 miles of separation between data centers and utility-scale solar
facilities. Some have suggested grouping these uses in designated areas to concentrate
impacts and preserve other areas of the County. Discuss whether to retain the separation
requirement or allow clustering, subject to review of combined noise, water demand,
electrical infrastructure, traffic and effects on neighboring properties.

Page 7 of 64

2. Location and Industrial Character
Sections 23.5.2 and 23.8.3; Proposed SA-DC District, Section 5.3
Retain the proposed SA-DC zoning district but discuss whether data centers should be
directed to areas appropriate for industrial development rather than rural farming areas.
Consider adding location criteria addressing the adopted land use plan, nearby industrial
uses, major roads, utility capacity and compatibility with surrounding properties.
3. Make lot sizes and setbacks work together
Section 23.11
Adjust the minimum lot sizes or setbacks so a facility has enough usable space while
maintaining appropriate protection for neighboring properties.
4. Clarify facility size and electrical capacity
Sections 23.4–23.7; Definitions 1.31 and 1.37
Clearly distinguish small facilities from accessory server space within another business.
Measure electrical capacity based on maximum expected demand, without double-counting
backup equipment. Continue reviewing related buildings and phases together.
5. Clarify cooling and water limits
Definition 1.29; Sections 23.14(a)–(c)
Clearly define permitted cooling systems to ensure they meet the prohibition on evaporative
cooling. Explain how water limits apply to daily operations, initial system filling, fire protection
and multiple wells, and establish clear conditions for any exception.
6. Make noise standards clear and enforceable
Section 23.13
Have a qualified sound specialist review the proposed limits and establish practical
procedures for testing, monitoring and responding to complaints. Clearly address
continuous equipment noise, generator testing and emergency operation.
7. Clarify energy and power generation requirements
Sections 23.15–23.17
Establish clear methods for measuring energy efficiency and documenting renewable energy
use. Distinguish emergency generators from separately approved power generation and
battery systems, and confirm applicable emissions requirements.

Page 8 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

RESOLUTION NO. ______
A RESOLUTION TO AMEND THE FAYETTE COUNTY ZONING RESOLUTION
REGARDING DATA CENTERS AND CRYPTOCURRENCY MINING FACILITIES;
ESTABLISHING THE SA-DC, SPECIAL ACTIVITY-DATA CENTER DISTRICT;
LOCATION, SEPARATION, NOISE, WATER, GENERATOR, AND OPERATING
STANDARDS; REPORTING; DECOMMISSIONING; AND RELATED MATTERS
WHEREAS, Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 13, Chapter 7, Part 1 authorizes the Fayette County Board of
Commissioners to adopt and amend zoning regulations for the unincorporated territory of Fayette
County; and
WHEREAS, Tennessee Code Annotated Section 13-7-105 requires a proposed zoning amendment to be
submitted to the regional planning commission and requires the county legislative body to conduct a
public hearing following the notice required by law; and
WHEREAS, the Tennessee Supreme Court held in Tinsley Properties, LLC v. Grundy County (Feb. 25, 2026)
that a county regulation restricting the location of a land use must be adopted in compliance with the
County Zoning Act, and these amendments are adopted as amendments to the Fayette County Zoning
Resolution for that reason; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Commissioners has adopted, by Resolution No. ______, development review
tiers, construction and stormwater standards, environmental review requirements, and enforcement
procedures in Article II and Article V, Sections 18 through 22, which apply to data centers and which
these amendments supplement; and
WHEREAS, data centers and cryptocurrency mining facilities are a distinct, large-scale industrial use whose
continuous mechanical noise, low-frequency sound, water demand, electrical load, backup
generation, construction traffic, and end-of-life abandonment risk differ in kind from warehouses,
offices, and general industry; and
WHEREAS, Fayette County is predominantly rural and agricultural, and its residents, farms, and
municipalities depend on groundwater from the Memphis Sand and associated aquifers, which the
Board of Commissioners finds to be a finite shared resource unsuited to consumptive industrial
cooling; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Commissioners finds that A-weighted sound limits alone do not control the lowfrequency hum produced by data center cooling equipment, as documented in Prince William County,
Virginia, and in Washington County, Tennessee; and
WHEREAS, Tennessee Public Chapter 961 (2026) requires data center owners and operators to bear the
cost of electrical infrastructure needed to serve them but does not displace local land-use regulation;
and
WHEREAS, the Fayette County Regional Planning Commission reviewed the proposed amendments on
____________________, 2026, and recommended ____________________; and
Resolution No. ______ | Page 1

Page 9 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

WHEREAS, the Fayette County Board of Commissioners conducted a public hearing on
____________________, 2026, after publication of notice and a complete summary of the proposed
amendments as required by Tennessee Code Annotated Section 13-7-105; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Commissioners finds that these amendments establish clear, proportional, and
enforceable standards for data center development while protecting groundwater, public
infrastructure, neighboring property, agricultural land, environmental resources, and public health,
safety, and welfare.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Fayette County Board of Commissioners, meeting in regular
session, that the Fayette County Zoning Resolution is amended as follows:

SECTION 1. ARTICLE V, NEW SECTION 23 - DATA CENTERS
Article V is amended by adding the following new Section 23 after Section 22:
Section 23. Data Centers and Cryptocurrency Mining Facilities.
23.1 Purpose. This Section confines data centers to sites zoned and approved by the Board of
Commissioners for that purpose; protects groundwater, roads, farmland, and the quiet of rural homes;
controls low-frequency and tonal noise; prevents public subsidy of private infrastructure; and assures
removal and restoration when a facility closes.
23.2 Applicability and Relationship to Other Provisions.
23.2.1 Applicability. This Section applies to every data center in the unincorporated territory of Fayette
County, including any expansion, change in cooling technology, addition of generation or battery storage,
or increase in maximum utilization capacity of an existing facility.
23.2.2 Relationship to Sections 18 through 22. A data center shall comply with Article V, Sections 18
through 22 and with every more restrictive or data-center-specific requirement of this Section. Where
this Section and another provision of this Resolution conflict, the more restrictive provision governs.
23.2.3 Relationship to State and Federal Law. This Section supplements, and does not displace, permits
issued by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation; the Tennessee Water Quality
Control Act; Tennessee Valley Authority and local power company service requirements; Public Chapter
961 (2026); and adopted building and fire codes. A State or federal permit does not establish compliance
with this Section.
23.3 Not a Public Utility. A data center, including one owned, leased, or hosted by an electric utility, power
distributor, or utility district, is not a public utility, essential service, or utility substation for any purpose
under this Resolution, and no exemption applicable to utilities applies to it.
23.4 Classification. A data center is assigned the highest class triggered by either data center floor area
or maximum utilization capacity, as defined in Article VIII.
Class

Data center floor area

Maximum utilization capacity

Accessory

Not more than 5,000 sq. ft., located within the
building of a larger principal use

Not more than 1 MW

Resolution No. ______ | Page 2

Page 10 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

Class

Data center floor area

Maximum utilization capacity

Small

Not more than 20,000 sq. ft.

Not more than 5 MW

Medium

20,001 to 100,000 sq. ft.

More than 5 MW to 20 MW

Large

100,001 to 500,000 sq. ft.

More than 20 MW to 100 MW

Campus (prohibited)

More than 500,000 sq. ft.

More than 100 MW

23.5 Zoning Classification and Review Tier.
23.5.1 Accessory Data Centers. An Accessory Data Center is permitted only as an accessory use in the
commercial and industrial districts, shall be located entirely within the building containing the principal
use, and is reviewed under the tier assigned by Section 19. Sections 23.13, 23.14(a), 23.15, and 23.18
apply to it.
23.5.2 Small, Medium, and Large Data Centers. A Small, Medium, or Large Data Center may be located
only within an SA-DC, Special Activity-Data Center District established specifically for that facility.
Establishment of the SA-DC District does not eliminate any requirement for location approval, design
approval, site-plan approval, building permit, stormwater approval, environmental review, utility
approval, or other approval required by this Resolution or applicable law.
23.5.3 Tier 4. Every Small, Medium, and Large Data Center is Tier 4 High-Impact Development under
Section 19 and shall not be reclassified to a lower review tier.
23.5.4 Campus Data Centers Prohibited. A Campus Data Center is prohibited in all districts.
23.5.5 No Entitlement. Nothing in this Section entitles any applicant to rezoning, location approval, design
approval, site-plan approval, or a permit.
23.6 Size Cap. No data center development, alone or combined with any other data center under common
ownership, control, or operation within one (1) mile, may exceed five hundred thousand (500,000) square
feet of data center floor area or one hundred (100) megawatts of maximum utilization capacity.
23.7 Anti-Segmentation. The first application shall include every building, phase, equipment yard,
generator yard, substation, and supporting improvement planned for the site. A project shall not be
divided into buildings, phases, parcels, or entities to fall within a lower class. A later approval that would
move a facility into a higher class may be granted only if every standard of the higher class is met. No
approval shall be granted that would move a facility into the Campus class.
23.8 Sequential Review Procedure.
23.8.1 Applicant-Led Community Meeting. Before filing an application for SA-DC zoning, the applicant shall
hold a public meeting in Fayette County. At least twenty-one (21) days before the meeting, the applicant
shall mail notice to every owner of record, as shown on the current Fayette County Assessor of Property
records, of each parcel located wholly or partly within one (1) mile of the exterior facility-site boundary,
or within two (2) miles if an on-site well is proposed, and shall post the site. The applicant shall present
the site plan, class, maximum utilization capacity, cooling method, water source, and noise study, and
shall file with the application a written summary of questions and responses, a certified mailing list, and

Resolution No. ______ | Page 3

Page 11 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

proof of mailing. The notice required by this Section is in addition to, and not a substitute for, the notice
required by Tennessee Code Annotated Section 13-7-105. Failure of any owner to receive mailed notice
shall not invalidate any action of the County if the applicant substantially complied with this Section.
23.8.2 Pre-Application Conference. Not less than thirty (30) nor more than one hundred twenty (120) days
before filing, the applicant shall attend a conference with the Building Commissioner, the Fayette County
Highway Department, Fayette County Emergency Management Agency, the serving fire department, the
serving electric distributor and the Tennessee Valley Authority, each water and wastewater provider, and,
for a Large Data Center, the State Fire Marshal's Office. No vested right arises from the conference.
23.8.3 SA-DC Zoning. Before location review, the property shall be classified SA-DC in accordance with
Article IV and Tennessee law. The rezoning application shall identify the entire proposed facility site.
Rezoning is a legislative act. In considering it, the Board of Commissioners shall consider the Fayette
County Growth Plan, electric transmission capacity, utility capacity letters, haul routes, groundwater
conditions, proximity to dwellings and farms, and Sections 23.9 and 23.10.
23.8.4 Facility Location Review. The Board of Appeals shall conduct a public hearing to determine whether
the location standards of Sections 23.6, 23.7, 23.9, 23.10, and 23.11 are satisfied. If the standards are not
satisfied, the Board shall deny the application. Location approval lapses two (2) years after approval unless
extended by the Board for a stated period, and does not authorize land disturbance, removal of land
cover, construction, or operation.
23.8.5 Facility Design Review. The Board of Appeals shall conduct a public hearing to determine whether
the proposed design satisfies this Section and the approved location conditions. Review at this stage shall
not reopen location approval unless there has been a material change, material misrepresentation,
unauthorized alteration of topography or land cover, or other just cause stated in writing by the Building
Commissioner. Design approval lapses two (2) years after approval unless extended by the Board for a
stated period.
23.8.6 Construction Authorization. No building permit, land-disturbance permit, or construction
authorization shall be issued before final design approval, completion of the Environmental Impact Study,
submission of financial assurance under Section 23.27, execution of the agreements required by Sections
23.14 and 23.20, and recordation under Section 23.25. No certificate of occupancy shall issue and no
operation shall begin until the Building Commissioner determines that all preoperational conditions have
been satisfied.
23.8.7 Lapse of District. If design approval is not obtained within twenty-four (24) months after SA-DC
zoning takes effect, the Regional Planning Commission shall initiate rezoning of the site to its prior
classification under Tennessee Code Annotated Section 13-7-105.
23.9 Separation Distances. Distances are measured by the shortest straight line from the exterior facilitysite boundary to the nearest boundary of the parcel or area listed, and are fixed on the date a complete
application is filed.
Separation from

Small

Medium

Large

Generating
facility

Parcel containing a sensitive receptor

1,000 ft.

1,000 ft.

2,640 ft.

2,640 ft.

Resolution No. ______ | Page 4

Page 12 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

Separation from

Small

Medium

Large

Generating
facility

Residentially zoned parcel

1,000 ft.

1,000 ft.

2,640 ft.

2,640 ft.

Another data center or utility-scale
solar facility site

1.5 miles

1.5 miles

1.5 miles

1.5 miles

Municipal corporate limits

[1,000 ft.]

[2,640 ft.]

[2,640 ft.]

[2,640 ft.]

23.9.1 Separation from Other Data Centers and Solar Facilities. The facility-site boundary shall be at least
one and one-half (1.5) miles from the nearest boundary of another existing or approved Small, Medium,
or Large Data Center or utility-scale solar photovoltaic facility. Distance shall be measured by the shortest
straight line between exterior facility-site boundaries. An approved facility is one that has received final
SA-DC or SA-Solar zoning, location approval, or special-exception approval, whether or not construction
has begun. An expansion under common project control shall be reviewed as an amendment or expansion
under Sections 23.7 and 23.24 and not as a separate facility for purposes of this subsection.
23.10 Prohibited Locations. No part of a data center, including equipment yards and generators, may be
located:
(a) within the one-hundred-year floodplain, five-hundred-year floodplain, or a designated floodway;
(b) within a designated wellhead protection area or within [one thousand (1,000)] feet of a public
water-supply well;
(c) on or within two hundred (200) feet of a sinkhole or mapped karst feature;
(d) within a scenic, conservation, or historic overlay, or within [one thousand (1,000)] feet of a
property listed on the National Register of Historic Places; or
(e) on a site of which more than twenty-five percent (25%) contains Prime Farmland soils, unless the
Board of Appeals makes written findings that no reasonable alternative site exists.
23.11 Dimensional Standards. The following standards supersede any less restrictive district standard.
Standard

Small

Medium

Large

Minimum site area (gross acres)

15

50

250

Setback from exterior facility-site boundary, all
structures and equipment

500 ft.

750 ft.

1,000 ft.

Maximum height, including rooftop equipment

50 ft.

65 ft.

65 ft.

Maximum impervious coverage

50%

50%

50%

Minimum landscaped or undisturbed area

25%

25%

25%

Undevelopable land may not exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of the area counted toward the minimum
site area. Substations, cooling equipment, generator yards, and parking shall not be located between the
principal building and a public road. Internal parcel lines within an approved facility site under unified
ownership or legally enforceable unified control are treated as provided in Section 13.4.2.
Resolution No. ______ | Page 5

Page 13 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

23.12 Application Requirements and Environmental Impact Study. Each application shall include a full
Environmental Impact Study under Section 22, which may not be waived. In addition to the components
of Section 22, the study and application shall include the following, each prepared by a qualified
professional as provided in Section 22.7:
(a) Site-plan package at a scale of 1 inch = 100 feet or larger showing all structures, setbacks,
separation distances to every sensitive receptor within one (1) mile, impervious area, grading,
stormwater facilities, erosion and sediment controls, utilities, flood-hazard areas with the FIRM
panel, all wells and water features within two thousand five hundred (2,500) feet, lighting
photometrics, screening cross-sections, haul routes with posted weight limits, phase lines, and
Prime Farmland soils to be converted.
(b) Utility capacity letters. Written confirmation from the serving electric distributor that it has
reviewed the facility, has or will have capacity, and agrees to serve it, stating the cost allocation
required by Public Chapter 961 (2026); and written confirmation from each water and sewer
provider that adequate capacity exists. No approval shall be granted if any provider declines
service or states that capacity is insufficient.
(c) Noise impact assessment by a Board Certified member of the Institute of Noise Control
Engineering or a Tennessee-licensed professional engineer with acoustical practice, including a
seven (7) day continuous ambient baseline at the nearest sensitive receptors reported in dBA,
dBC, and one-third-octave bands, day and night; an equipment inventory with manufacturer
sound-power data by octave band; modeled operating levels at every property line and at five
hundred (500) feet beyond the facility site, at full maximum utilization capacity on a 95°F day,
with all generators testing and separately with all generators running; a tonal analysis; and
mitigation shown to meet Section 23.13.
(d) Water and hydrogeology study by a Tennessee-licensed professional engineer or professional
geologist addressing total monthly demand at full build-out, source, drought vulnerability, effects
on neighboring wells and the aquifer within two (2) miles if any on-site well is proposed,
contingency supply, and wastewater and blowdown handling.
(e) Energy plan addressing projected annual consumption and peak load, ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 90.4
compliance with third-party verification before construction and after completion, the renewable
supply required by Section 23.16, and a transmission-line impact assessment identifying new or
upgraded lines and substations and their routes.
(f) Air-quality information for generators and any generating facility, including fuel, storage volume,
stack heights, dispersion modeling at every sensitive receptor, and all required State air permits
or a written State determination that none is required.
(g) Traffic study for any facility generating more than one hundred (100) peak-hour trips and, for
Medium and Large Data Centers, a construction traffic-management plan addressing hours,
routes, staging, wheel washing, daily trips, and peak workforce.
(h) Emergency response plan including a hazardous-materials inventory with safety data sheets, firesuppression design, a battery thermal-runaway and off-gassing plan, and a signed coordination
letter from the serving fire department.

Resolution No. ______ | Page 6

Page 14 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

(i) Decommissioning plan and cost estimate under Section 23.27, including recycling of all electronic
equipment through a certified R2 or e-Stewards recycler.
23.13 Noise. Sound attributable to the facility, measured at or beyond the receiving property line, shall
not exceed the following:
Receiving property

Daytime (7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.)

Nighttime (10:00 p.m. - 7:00
a.m.)

Residential or agricultural, Leq(1h)

50 dBA and [73] dBC

45 dBA and [68] dBC

Residential or agricultural, tonal sound

40 dBA

40 dBA

Commercial

65 dBA

65 dBA

Industrial

75 dBA

75 dBA

(a) Where tonal sound is present, five (5) dB shall be added to the measured level before comparison
with the limit.
(b) At night, facility sound at a residential or agricultural property line shall not exceed the preconstruction baseline established under Section 23.12(c) by more than [five (5)] dBA.
(c) Compliance testing shall be performed by an independent acoustician thirty (30) days after
operation begins, after each phase, and annually at full load in summer, with results filed with the
Building Commissioner as public records.
(d) A Large Data Center shall maintain a permanent logging sound monitor at the nearest sensitive
receptor, with data available to the County upon request.
(e) Emergency generator operation shall not exceed sixty-five (65) dBA at any residential property
line.
23.14 Cooling and Water.
(a) All cooling and ventilation shall use closed-loop cooling. Evaporative cooling, including hybrid
systems, is prohibited.
(b) Public potable water and groundwater may be used only for domestic needs, fire protection, and
the initial charge and periodic make-up of closed-loop systems, not exceeding [ten thousand
(10,000)] gallons per day site-wide on an annual-average basis, unless the Board of Appeals finds,
based on the study required by Section 23.12(d), that a greater amount will not affect any
neighboring well or public water supply.
(c) No new on-site well with a capacity greater than [fifty thousand (50,000)] gallons per day shall
serve a data center.
(d) A written drought-curtailment agreement with each water provider is required.
(e) Before a building permit is issued, the permittee shall execute a water-use monitoring and
reporting agreement with the County, with a copy to the Tennessee Department of Environment
and Conservation.

Resolution No. ______ | Page 7

Page 15 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

(f) No discharge to ground or surface water shall occur without the applicable State permit. Blowdown
and wash water shall be discharged to sanitary sewer or hauled.
(g) The facility shall cause no net increase in peak stormwater runoff for the 2-, 10-, 25-, and 100-year
storms.
23.15 Generators and Battery Storage.
(a) Emergency generators shall meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Tier 4 Final standards, be
housed in sound-attenuating enclosures, and be located at least one thousand (1,000) feet from
any residential or agricultural parcel line.
(b) Non-emergency operation for testing and maintenance is limited to ten (10) hours per month and
one hundred (100) hours per year per unit, one unit at a time, Monday through Friday between
9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., excluding federal holidays.
(c) Generators shall not be used for demand response, peak shaving, price arbitrage, or supply to the
grid.
(d) A generator testing log shall be maintained and produced upon request.
(e) Battery energy storage shall comply with NFPA 855 and the adopted fire code.
23.16 Energy. Design power usage effectiveness (PUE) shall not exceed 1.3, verified under ANSI/ASHRAE
Standard 90.4. At least fifteen percent (15%) of annual consumption shall be supplied by renewable
generation, on-site or off-site, that is additive to the Tennessee Valley Authority system. Roofs shall be
structurally capable of supporting solar equipment.
23.17 On-Site Generating Facilities. A generating facility is permitted only as part of a Large Data Center,
only upon separate approval through the procedure of Section 23.8, and only if:
(a) every generating structure is at least two thousand six hundred forty (2,640) feet from any
sensitive receptor or residentially zoned parcel;
(b) all State air permits are issued before the building permit, and dispersion modeling shows
compliance with every National Ambient Air Quality Standard at each sensitive receptor;
(c) no temporary or mobile turbine or engine operates before permits are issued; and
(d) the limits of Section 23.13 are met with the generating facility at full output.
23.18 Lighting. Exterior lighting shall use full-cutoff, downward-directed fixtures with a correlated color
temperature not exceeding 3000K. There shall be no light trespass onto any adjoining parcel or right-ofway. After 11:00 p.m., security lighting shall be motion-activated except at entrances.
23.19 Screening, Buffers, and Preservation.
(a) A vegetative buffer of native species, undisturbed or planted, at least one hundred (100) feet deep
shall be maintained inside all side and rear boundaries, together with an eight-foot (8-foot)
masonry wall or a berm of equal height.

Resolution No. ______ | Page 8

Page 16 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

(b) Mechanical equipment shall not be visible from ground level at any adjoining residential or
agricultural property line or public road, as demonstrated by at least four (4) cross-sections.
(c) Existing woods within required setbacks shall be preserved, and Sections 13.6.2 through 13.6.4
apply to required landscaping and preserved land cover as if the facility were a solar photovoltaic
facility.
(d) All on-site utility lines shall be underground except where an above-ground installation is required
by the National Electrical Safety Code, the Tennessee Valley Authority, or the serving utility.
(e) Native Plant Material. All new planting in required buffers, screening areas, landscaped areas, and
stormwater facilities shall consist of tree, shrub, grass, and forb species native to West Tennessee.
Screening buffers shall be planted in a staggered, multi-layer arrangement of canopy trees,
understory trees, and shrubs, with native evergreen species making up at least [fifty percent
(50%)] of buffer plantings to provide year-round screening. No species listed as invasive by the
Tennessee Invasive Plant Council shall be planted, and invasive species shall be controlled within
required buffers for the life of the facility. Section 13.6.2 governs plan contents, establishment,
maintenance, and replacement.
23.20 Roads, Access, and Construction.
(a) A facility shall not rely on a private easement as its sole access. A facility exceeding fifty thousand
(50,000) square feet shall provide at least two (2) separate public-road access points meeting
Section 13.4.1.
(b) Haul routes shall be approved by the Fayette County Highway Department. Before a building
permit is issued, the applicant shall execute a road-use and maintenance agreement and provide
the road-damage bond authorized by Section 20.6, in an amount set from a pre-construction
pavement survey, to restore project-attributable damage to County roads.
(c) Off-site road improvements shall be limited to the share attributable to the project under the
traffic study, consistent with the nexus and rough-proportionality standards of Nollan, Dolan, and
Sheetz v. County of El Dorado (2024).
(d) Construction hours are governed by Section 13.9.1, which applies to data center construction,
including clearing, grading, excavation, material delivery, equipment operation, pile driving,
assembly, and installation.
23.21 Fire Safety. The facility shall provide automatic fire suppression as required by the adopted fire
code, a fire-apparatus access road around all structures, State Fire Marshal plan review, and, before
occupancy, a funded training plan for the serving fire department.
23.22 Start of Operations and Annual Report.
23.22.1 Start of Operations. Within thirty (30) days after commercial operation begins, the permittee shall
notify the Building Commissioner of the start date, current IT load and maximum utilization capacity, and
initial measured PUE and water use.
23.22.2 Annual Report. By January 31 of each year, the permittee shall file with the Building Commissioner
a report, which shall be posted on the County website within thirty (30) days, stating for the prior year:
Resolution No. ______ | Page 9

Page 17 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

(a) total consumption, peak demand, maximum utilization capacity, and measured PUE;
(b) total water drawn by source, by month;
(c) renewable share and its source;
(d) generator hours by unit, fuel used, and each emergency run with its cause;
(e) all noise-test results and monitor exceedances;
(f) changes to cooling, power, fire suppression, or equipment yards;
(g) spills, permit violations, and complaints received with responses; and
(h) confirmation that financial assurance is current.
Information may be withheld only if exempt under a specific Tennessee statute, as determined by the
County Attorney. Energy, water, PUE, generator-hour, and noise data are not confidential.
23.23 Inspections. In addition to Article II, Section 1.6, upon five (5) business days' notice, or twenty-four
(24) hours' notice for a complaint investigation, the County may inspect exterior areas, equipment yards,
generators, monitoring points, stormwater facilities, and buffers. Secure server halls are excluded unless
the permittee consents. If entry is refused, the County may seek an administrative warrant.
23.24 Modifications. Any increase in floor area or maximum utilization capacity, change in cooling
technology, addition of generation or battery storage, or new equipment yard requires a new approval
under the class that results, applying the standards in effect when the application for the modification is
filed.
23.25 Recordation, Continuing Obligations, and Transfer. Sections 13.10.1 and 13.10.2 apply to every
Small, Medium, and Large Data Center. Upon transfer of ownership or operation, the new owner or
operator shall, within thirty (30) days, accept all conditions in writing and replace the financial assurance
in its own name. The prior owner's financial assurance shall remain in effect until replaced.
23.26 Enforcement. Article II, Section 2 applies to every data center. A written notice of violation shall
allow thirty (30) days for correction, except ten (10) days for a violation of Section 23.13, 23.15, or 23.18.
After notice and hearing under Article II, Section 2.4, the issuing body may suspend or revoke an approval
upon three (3) or more uncorrected violations in any twenty-four (24) month period. A consent order
establishing a compliance schedule is permitted. Appeals of administrative decisions are governed by
Article III, Section 3.
23.27 Decommissioning and Financial Assurance.
23.27.1 Abandonment. A facility that has not operated at more than ten percent (10%) of its approved
maximum utilization capacity for twelve (12) consecutive months is abandoned.
23.27.2 Removal. Within twelve (12) months after abandonment or revocation, the owner shall remove
all servers, electronic equipment, batteries, generators, fuel tanks, cooling equipment, and above-grade
structures not approved for another permitted use; recycle electronics through a certified R2 or eStewards recycler; remove foundations and pavement to three (3) feet below grade; and regrade, topsoil,
and reseed the site with native grasses and forbs.

Resolution No. ______ | Page 10

Page 18 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

23.27.3 Financial Assurance. As a condition of design approval and before any building permit is issued for
a Small, Medium, or Large Data Center, the owner shall provide an irrevocable letter of credit or surety
bond from a Tennessee-licensed institution, approved as to form by the County Attorney and naming
Fayette County as beneficiary, in an amount equal to one hundred percent (100%) of an independent
estimate of the full cost of decommissioning, disposal, site restoration, administration, and documented
contingencies, less only salvage value the Board of Appeals finds reasonably certain. The estimate shall
be prepared by a Tennessee-licensed professional engineer, may be reviewed by an independent
estimator at the applicant's expense, and shall be reviewed at least every five (5) years and adjusted for
inflation and changed conditions. The assurance shall renew automatically.
23.27.4 Solar Facilities. A solar power facility on the site that is subject to Tennessee Code Annotated
Section 66-9-207 is governed by the removal and financial-assurance provisions of that statute, and
Section 23.27.3 does not apply to it.
23.27.5 County Action. If the owner fails to decommission, the County may draw on the financial
assurance, enter and perform the work, and recover any shortfall as provided in Article II, Section 1.7 and
as otherwise permitted by law.
23.27.6 Protection in Bankruptcy and Insolvency. The following provisions apply to the financial assurance
required by Section 23.27.3 and are intended to keep the assurance outside the property of any
bankruptcy estate of the owner or operator.
(a) Acceptable Forms. Financial assurance shall be an irrevocable standby letter of credit issued by a
federally insured bank or a surety bond issued by a surety listed in U.S. Department of the
Treasury Circular 570. A parent or corporate guaranty, self-assurance, insurance policy, escrow
held by the owner, or pledge of facility assets shall not satisfy Section 23.27.3.
(b) Independence of Obligation. A letter of credit shall be governed by Tennessee Code Annotated,
Title 47, Chapter 5 and the International Standby Practices (ISP98), shall be payable on sight
against the County's draft and written certification of a draw condition, and shall not be
conditioned on the consent or performance of the owner or operator. A surety bond shall name
Fayette County as obligee and shall provide that the surety's obligation is not discharged or
suspended by the bankruptcy, insolvency, or dissolution of the principal.
(c) Draw Conditions. The County may draw the full amount of the financial assurance if (1) the issuer
gives notice of non-renewal, or the assurance is not renewed or replaced at least sixty (60) days
before it expires; (2) the owner, operator, or record landowner becomes the subject of a petition
under Title 11 of the United States Code, an assignment for the benefit of creditors, or the
appointment of a receiver; (3) the issuer or surety becomes insolvent, or its credit rating falls
below [A-] or the equivalent, and the assurance is not replaced within thirty (30) days; or (4) the
facility is abandoned or the owner fails to decommission as required by Section 23.27.2. Funds
drawn under conditions (1) through (3) shall be held by the County in a segregated account and
used solely for decommissioning and site restoration, with any balance remaining after
completion paid to the party entitled to it.
(d) Landowner Joinder. If the owner or operator of the data center does not hold fee title to the facility
site, each record owner of the fee shall join in the application as a co-applicant and shall execute

Resolution No. ______ | Page 11

Page 19 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

the recorded instrument required by Section 23.25, agreeing to be jointly and severally
responsible with the owner and operator for decommissioning and site restoration. These
obligations run with the land and bind heirs, successors, and assigns.
(e) Regulatory Obligation. Decommissioning, removal, and site-restoration obligations under this
Section are imposed under the County's police and regulatory power to protect public health,
safety, and the environment. The County may enforce them as an exercise of that power to the
fullest extent permitted by 11 U.S.C. § 362(b)(4) and other applicable law, and they are not
discharged by the abandonment of the facility in any bankruptcy or insolvency proceeding except
as required by federal law.
(f) No Release. Financial assurance shall not be released, reduced, or allowed to lapse until the
Building Commissioner certifies in writing that decommissioning and site restoration are
complete, or until replacement assurance meeting this Section has been accepted.
23.28 Additional Conditions. The Board of Appeals may impose additional conditions during location or
design review when the conditions are reasonably related to an identified impact and further the purposes
of this Resolution. A condition may not waive or reduce a mandatory standard of this Section.
23.29 Review Schedule. Section 13.12 applies to data center applications.
23.30 Periodic Review. The Regional Planning Commission shall review this Section at least every three
(3) years in light of changes in technology and the experience of other jurisdictions. Failure to conduct a
review does not affect the validity of this Section.

SECTION 2. ARTICLE V, SECTION 19.5 - TIER 4 HIGH-IMPACT DEVELOPMENT
Article V, Section 19.5 is amended by inserting the phrase "data centers and cryptocurrency mining
facilities other than Accessory Data Centers, as provided in Article V, Section 23;" immediately after the
phrase "nonaccessory battery-energy-storage systems;".

SECTION 3. ARTICLE VI - ESTABLISHMENT OF SA-DC DISTRICT
Article VI, Section 1 is amended by changing the stated number of land-use districts from fourteen (14) to
fifteen (15) and adding the following district immediately after SA-Solar, Special Activity-Solar:
SA-DC - Special Activity-Data Center

SECTION 4. ARTICLE VII - SPECIAL ACTIVITY-DATA CENTER DISTRICT
Article VII, Section 5 is amended by adding the following new Section 5.3 after Section 5.2:
5.3 SA-DC, Special Activity-Data Center District. The SA-DC District is established solely for a Small,
Medium, or Large Data Center approved for the specific district. A data center is the only principal use
permitted in an SA-DC District. Accessory substations, electrical and mechanical yards, emergency
generators, battery storage approved as part of the facility, a generating facility approved under Article
V, Section 23.17, operations and security buildings, access, stormwater facilities, open space, and buffers
may be permitted as components of the approved facility. No use or material expansion shall occur until

Resolution No. ______ | Page 12

Page 20 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

the requirements of Article V, Sections 18 through 23 have been satisfied. The boundaries of an SA-DC
District shall coincide with the entire approved facility site, and every district-specific approval is limited
to the project, class, use, scale, and conditions considered during rezoning.

SECTION 5. ARTICLE VIII - DEFINITIONS
Article VIII, Section 1 is amended by adding the following definitions after Section 1.28:
1.29 "Closed-Loop Cooling" means a cooling system that recirculates an initial charge of water or coolant
and does not use evaporation, including air-cooled dry coolers, rear-door heat exchangers, dry
economizers, and direct-to-chip and immersion cooling.
1.30 "Data Center" means a room, building, structure, container, or group of them used primarily to house
and operate computer servers, data storage, processing, or networking equipment, together with
associated cooling, power, generation, substation, battery, and security infrastructure. The term includes
colocation, enterprise, edge, hyperscale, artificial-intelligence training or inference, and blockchain or
cryptocurrency mining facilities, whether in permanent buildings or modular containers. The term
excludes a Server Room, telecommunications towers and broadband network huts, and facilities owned
and operated by the State or a political subdivision for its own governmental use.
1.31 "Data Center Floor Area" means all floor area of every building in a data center development plus
the footprint of all exterior equipment within the facility site, including substations, electrical and
mechanical yards, generator yards, battery enclosures, cooling equipment, and container pads.
1.32 "dBA" and "dBC" mean sound pressure levels, A-weighted and C-weighted respectively, measured
under ANSI S1.4 with a Type 1 meter.
1.33 "Emergency," for purposes of Article V, Section 23, means an unplanned loss of utility power to the
site, or a written curtailment request from the Tennessee Valley Authority or the serving electric
distributor. Price-based demand response is not an emergency.
1.34 "Evaporative Cooling" means a cooling tower, adiabatic cooler, or spray system that consumes water
by evaporation, including a hybrid system that uses evaporation in some conditions.
1.35 "Generating Facility" means electric generation other than emergency standby generators, including
turbines, reciprocating engines, fuel cells exceeding two (2) megawatts, and battery systems used for peak
shaving or market participation.
1.36 "Leq(1h)" means the equivalent continuous sound level over one (1) hour.
1.37 "Maximum Utilization Capacity" means the greatest of (1) the electric demand requested from or
approved by the electric provider; (2) the total designed IT load; (3) the maximum load shown on any
electrical, mechanical, substation, generator, or building plan; (4) the load the installed or proposed
transformers, switchgear, generators, substations, or batteries can serve; or (5) any load stated in an
application, utility request, lease, financing document, marketing material, or public filing.
1.38 "Prime Farmland" means land so mapped in the current USDA Natural Resources Conservation
Service soil survey for Fayette County.

Resolution No. ______ | Page 13

Page 21 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

1.39 "Sensitive Receptor" means a dwelling (existing or permitted), school, licensed child-care facility,
religious institution, hospital, nursing home, public park, campground, cemetery, or property listed on the
National Register of Historic Places.
1.40 "Server Room" means a room of less than five hundred (500) square feet within a building that serves
the principal use of that building and relies on that building's own HVAC and electrical service.
1.41 "Tonal Sound" means sound with a one-third-octave band that exceeds both adjacent bands by the
prominence criteria of ANSI S12.9 Part 4, Annex C.
1.42 "Undevelopable Land" means floodway, FEMA flood zones A, AE, and AO, wetlands, sinkholes and
karst features, existing easements, and slopes exceeding fifteen percent (15%).

SECTION 6. APPENDIX A - DATA CENTER REVIEW FEES
Appendix A, Section 7 is amended by adding, after the phrase "decommissioning or closure-plan review",
the phrase "; acoustical, hydrogeological, electrical, and air-quality review of data center applications;
review of data center annual reports; and noise-monitor data review".

SECTION 7. SEVERABILITY
Article XI, Section 2 applies to this Resolution. Without limiting that Section, the Board of Commissioners
declares that the size cap of Article V, Section 23.6, the separation distances of Section 23.9, the cooling
and water standards of Section 23.14, the generator standards of Section 23.15, the energy standards of
Section 23.16, and the noise standards of Section 23.13 are each independently severable.

SECTION 8. CODIFICATION AND CONFLICTING PROVISIONS
The Building Commissioner or codifier is directed to update the Table of Contents, page references,
internal cross-references, and numbering necessary to incorporate this Resolution, without changing
substantive meaning, consistent with Article II, Section 4. All resolutions or portions of resolutions in
conflict with this Resolution are repealed to the extent of the conflict. Under Article XI, Section 1, the most
restrictive applicable provision governs unless this Resolution expressly states otherwise.

SECTION 9. EFFECTIVE DATE AND PENDING APPLICATIONS
This Resolution shall take effect on the day following its adoption, the public welfare requiring it, and
applies to applications filed on or after that date. Consistent with Tennessee Code Annotated Section 2943-101, an application filed before the effective date shall be judged under the law in effect when it was
filed.

Resolution No. ______ | Page 14

Page 22 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

ADOPTED this ______ day of ____________________, 2026.
FAYETTE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
____________________________________
Chair, Fayette County Board of Commissioners
ATTEST:
____________________________________
Fayette County Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
____________________________________
Fayette County Attorney
REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION:
Data center amendments recommended for ____________________ on ____________________, 2026.

Resolution No. ______ | Page 15

Page 23 of 64

Model Data Center Zoning Regulations

1

MODEL DATA CENTER ZONING
REGULATIONS
County Government Edition
UT Center for Local Planning Staff
With assistance provided by:
CTAS Legal Staff
Sam Edwards, JD, AICP
October 2026

Note: These model regulations are provided as a drafting resource for county
governments with adopted zoning standards. They are drafted for general
applicability and cannot account for an individual jurisdiction's existing policies,
charter, private acts, utility and water capacity, or other local conditions. Bracketed
provisions require local determination. Each jurisdiction should have these
materials reviewed and tailored by its own attorney and should follow all required
procedures for notice, hearing, and adoption. This document does not constitute
legal advice.

Prepared by the UT Center for Local Planning • clp.tennessee.edu

Page 24 of 64

Model Data Center Zoning Regulations

2

Executive Summary
What Is a Data Center?
A data center is a facility where electronic information is stored, processed, distributed, managed or
accessed by means of computer servers, networking equipment, air conditioning and heating systems,
electrical systems and security systems. Every cloud file, telemedicine consultation, financial transaction
and artificial intelligence project operates on a data center. These facilities have different needs than
traditional industrial sites, as they create relatively low volumes of traffic and odor generation. However,
they have the ability to consume significant amounts of energy and water resources and contain large
quantities of mechanical equipment outside of their buildings. As a result, the sizes of these facilities can
vary greatly. This document categorizes data centers into five tiers based on size. Requirements for review
and specific standards are tailored to each of tier’s potential impacts.
For purposes of Public Chapter 961 (2026), a “data center” is defined as a building with an anticipated
maximum peak electric load of fifty megawatts (50 MW) or greater. Facilities meeting that threshold are
subject to additional state requirements regarding electrical infrastructure costs. These model regulations
address the full spectrum of data center development regardless of the PC 961 threshold.

The Purpose and Need for these Model Regulations
Data Center Development is Increasing Nationwide: In 2024, U.S. data centers accounted for
approximately 4.7% of total national electricity usage. This number is expected to increase to 5.9 – 15.3%
of total national electricity usage and to 33% of total energy load growth by 2030 (U.S. DOE / Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory, 2026). Yet many local zoning codes never mention data centers, leaving
them to be reviewed under generic industrial categories that do not address their defining impacts,
including water consumption, mechanical noise, backup generators, and end-of-life decommissioning.
The Tennessee General Assembly has initiated policy at the state level that is tied directly or indirectly to
this type of development: Public Chapter 961 (2026) prohibits local governments and electric utilities
from absorbing costs associated with electrical infrastructure required for larger data centers and
authorizes independent power providers to provide power to data centers. However, this policy does not
provide land use guidance, meaning that, at this point, the existence and extent of data center regulations
are subject to local discretion within the framework of applicable statutory requirements. This template
gives Tennessee counties a legally grounded, “ready-to-adapt and adopt” framework under the County
Zoning statute (T.C.A. § 13-7-101 et seq) covering districting and prohibited locations, pre-application
conferences, infrastructure impact studies, acoustic studies, energy and water disclosure, performance
standards, annual reporting, enforcement, and decommissioning security.

A Flexible, Modular Framework
The Center for Local Planning has designed this template to be deliberately comprehensive.
Wherever brackets exist, you will insert local zoning district names, numeric thresholds, etc. Review
bodies, penalties, and thresholds will need to match your community’s existing processes. For
jurisdictions without in-house planning personnel, we recommend consulting the UT Center for Local
Planning, CTAS, or your designated Development District when customizing or implementing these
model regulations. Additionally, jurisdictions should re-examine their zoning code in its entirety when
adopting provisions of this document to ensure overall consistency.
Jurisdictions that have adopted a temporary moratorium on data center development may wish to modify
and adopt these model regulations (or a locally customized version) prior to or concurrent with the
expiration of the moratorium, to ensure a seamless transition from prohibition to regulated permitting.
Prepared by the UT Center for Local Planning • clp.tennessee.edu

Page 25 of 64

Model Data Center Zoning Regulations

3

All jurisdictions should consult closely with legal counsel prior to proceeding with any data center
regulations.
NOTE: This template is intended for use by counties which have adopted a set of zoning regulations for
the areas under their jurisdiction. Counties that have not adopted zoning regulations may not lawfully
implement distance or location-based regulations of facilities such as data centers per recent court rulings
(see Tinsley Properties, LLC v. Grundy County (Tenn. Feb. 25, 2026, No. M2022-01562-SC-R11-CV).
Counties should assume that any distance-based or location-based restriction on data centers must be
adopted as a zoning amendment under T.C.A. § 13-7-105.
NOTE: These regulations should be incorporated into the County's Zoning Resolution and not adopted
as free-standing regulations. This template is drafted as an overlay district. Counties should work
closely with their professional Planning staff, Development District staff, CTAS, or Center for Local
Planning staff in incorporating these changes. All changes should be submitted to the County's legal
counsel for review prior to adoption. There are several options for how these regulations may be
implemented:
1. Applicant-initiated overlay (reactive). The developer must obtain a Data Center Overlay
District map amendment before filing a full application. See Section 1.06(D).
2. County-initiated overlay (proactive). The Planning Commission and Legislative Body map
the DC-O District to appropriate areas in advance. See Section 1.06(E).
3. Amend each district. Alternatively, if the County finds the application of the Zoning Overlay
to be too cumbersome or confusing, the Zoning Resolution and each individual zoning district
may be amended to incorporate these standards. A County electing this option must delete Section
1.06, revise Section 1.05 and the Section 3.01 table to remove the overlay condition and confirm
that Section 5.01 is compatible with each district's dimensional standards.
Under any option, adoption is an amendment to the County Zoning Resolution and must follow T.C.A. §
13-7-105, including referral to and recommendation from the Regional Planning Commission, published
notice, and a public hearing.
NOTE: The UT Center for Local Planning (CLP), and County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS),
provide technical assistance to Tennessee counties on zoning and planning matters. Counties without inhouse planning staff are encouraged to contact their respective Development Districts, CLP or CTAS
before and during the review of any data center application. Resources are available at clp.tennessee.edu.
Key Resources
• Tenn. Public Chapter 961 (2026) — Data Center Infrastructure Usage
• Urban Land Institute, Local Guidelines for Data Center Development (ULI Americas Data Center
Product Council)
• U.S. Dept. of Energy / Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2026 United States Data Center
Energy Usage Report
• T.C.A. § 13-7-201 et seq. (County Zoning Enabling Act)

Preamble
WHEREAS, the County of [COUNTY NAME], Tennessee, acting pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated
§ 13-7-101 et seq., is authorized to enact zoning regulations for the purpose of promoting the public health,
safety, morals, convenience, order, prosperity, and general welfare of the community; and
WHEREAS, data centers and digital infrastructure facilities represent a significant and growing form of
large-scale industrial land use that presents unique impacts upon energy supply, water resources,
Prepared by the UT Center for Local Planning • clp.tennessee.edu

Page 26 of 64

Model Data Center Zoning Regulations

4

environmental quality, agricultural lands, and community character which justify the implementation of
specific standards; and
WHEREAS, the County of [COUNTY NAME] desires to capture the economic benefits of this industry,
including tax revenue, potential infrastructure improvements, and local employment, while protecting
natural resources, existing land uses, agricultural operations, and the long-term sustainability of the
community; and
WHEREAS, the Tennessee General Assembly has recognized the importance of planning for large-scale
industrial facilities through enabling statutes authorizing the regulation of land uses, site plan review,
and the establishment of special exceptions and conditions designed to protect public health, safety, and
welfare; and
WHEREAS, the County of [COUNTY NAME] has heretofore adopted a Zoning Resolution and an Official
Zoning Map pursuant to T.C.A. § 13-7-101 et seq., which Zoning Resolution and Map remain in full force
and effect except as expressly amended herein; and
WHEREAS, T.C.A. § 13-7-105 authorizes the County Legislative Body to amend the Zoning Resolution
and the Official Zoning Map, including by the establishment of overlay districts imposing supplemental
standards upon land within a designated area in addition to the standards of the underlying zoning
district, following referral to and recommendation from the [REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION
NAME], published notice, and a public hearing;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the County Legislative Body of [COUNTY NAME] County,
Tennessee, that the [COUNTY NAME] County Zoning Resolution is hereby amended by adding thereto a
new Chapter [___], to read as follows; and that the Official Zoning Map of [COUNTY NAME] County is
hereby amended to reflect the Data Center Overlay District established herein:

Article I — General Provisions
Section 1.01 — Short Title, Effect and Construction
(A) This Chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "[COUNTY NAME] County Data Center Overlay
District Regulations."
(B) This Chapter is adopted as an amendment to the [COUNTY NAME] County Zoning Resolution and is
not a free-standing regulation. It is codified as Chapter [___] of the Zoning Resolution and shall be
construed and administered as an integral part thereof.
(C) All provisions of the Zoning Resolution not expressly amended by this Chapter remain in full force
and effect. Where any term used in this Chapter is defined in the Zoning Resolution, the definition in
Article II of this Chapter shall control for purposes of data center review.

Prepared by the UT Center for Local Planning • clp.tennessee.edu

Page 27 of 64

Model Data Center Zoning Regulations

1

Section 1.02 — Purpose and Intent
The purpose of this chapter is to:
• Amend the [COUNTY NAME] Zoning Resolution to establish a Data Center Overlay District (DCO) and to prescribe the districts in which, and the standards under which, data centers may be
established within the County's zoning jurisdiction;
• Establish a clear, predictable, and equitable permitting framework for data centers and digital
infrastructure facilities within the unincorporated areas of [COUNTY NAME] County;
• Protect the County’s water supply, electrical grid, road network, agricultural lands, and natural
environment from unmitigated impacts of large-scale digital infrastructure;
• Promote environmental sustainability through requirements for energy and water efficiency, and
low-impact site design;
• Prevent incompatible land uses adjacent to residential, agricultural, or environmentally sensitive
areas; and
• Maintain consistency with the [COUNTY NAME] County Comprehensive Growth Plan, [COUNTY
NAME] County Comprehensive Plan [Note: if applicable], and applicable state and federal
environmental regulations.

Section 1.03 — Authority
This Chapter is enacted as an amendment to the [COUNTY NAME] County Zoning Resolution pursuant
to the authority granted to counties under T.C.A. §§ 13-7-101 through 13-7-119 (County Zoning), and
specifically pursuant to:
T.C.A. § 13-7-101 and § 13-7-102, authorizing the division of the County into districts and the regulation
of the location and use of buildings and land;
T.C.A. § 13-7-105, governing the amendment of the Zoning Resolution and the Official Zoning Map,
including referral to the Regional Planning Commission, published notice, and public hearing;
T.C.A. § 13-7-106 and § 13-7-109, governing the Board of Zoning Appeals and its authority over special
exceptions; and
T.C.A. § 13-3-101 et seq., governing the Regional Planning Commission and site plan review.
Adoption of this Chapter and of any subsequent amendment to the Official Zoning Map applying the DCO District shall follow the procedure required by T.C.A. § 13-7-105.

Section 1.04 — Relationship to Other Regulations
This chapter supplements and does not supersede any applicable provision of:
• Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 68, Chapter 2, related to Environmental Protection;
• The Tennessee Water Quality Control Act (T.C.A. § 69-3-101 et seq.);
• Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) regulations;
• Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) transmission and service agreements;
• Applicable Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations; and
• The Tennessee Right to Farm Act (T.C.A. § 43-26-101 et seq.);
• Local subdivision regulations, the [COUNTY NAME] Comprehensive Plan [Note: If applicable],
and the [COUNTY Name] Comprehensive Growth Plan.
In the event of any conflict, the more stringent standard shall apply to the extent permitted by state law.
Building code and fire safety matters are subject to T.C.A. § 68-120-101 et seq and applicable state fire
marshal regulations.

Section 1.05 — Applicability
This Chapter applies to all data center development within the unincorporated areas of [COUNTY NAME]
County that are subject to the [COUNTY NAME] Zoning Resolution. The standards of Articles II through
VII apply to property within the Data Center Overlay District as established under Section 1.06, except
Prepared by the UT Center for Local Planning • clp.tennessee.edu

Page 28 of 64

Model Data Center Zoning Regulations

2

that Edge Computing Facilities are governed as provided in Sections 1.06(B) and 3.01. Data centers
proposed within the corporate limits of any municipality within the County are subject to that
municipality's zoning ordinance, and not this chapter. Where a municipality exercises extraterritorial
planning jurisdiction under T.C.A. § 13-7-301 et seq, the applicant should confirm with both the County
and the municipality which jurisdiction's regulations apply to the proposed site.

Section 1.06 — Establishment of the Data Center Overlay District (DC-O)
1.06(A) District Created
There is hereby created and established a zoning district to be known as the Data Center Overlay District,
designated "DC-O," which is added to the list of zoning districts set forth in Chapter [___] of the
[COUNTY NAME] County Zoning Resolution.
1.06(B) Nature of the Overlay
The DC-O District is an overlay district. It does not replace or remove the underlying zoning district
classification of any property. All regulations of the underlying zoning district continue to apply to
property within the DC-O District except as expressly modified by this Chapter. No Small, Medium,
Large, or Hyperscale Data Center shall be established, constructed, or expanded except upon property
that:
• Lies within a zoning district in which such facility is listed as permitted or permitted by special
exception under Section 3.01, and
• Is within the boundaries of the DC-O District as shown on the Official Zoning Map.
• Note: Edge Computing Facilities as defined herein are exempt from the DC-O mapping
requirement and are governed by the requirements of the underlying zoning district, and Section
3.01.
1.06(C) Conflicts
Where a provision of this Chapter conflicts with a provision of the underlying zoning district or any other
provision of the Zoning Resolution, the more stringent provision shall control, except that the
dimensional standards of Section 5.01 shall supersede the dimensional standards of the underlying
district as provided therein.
1.06(D) Application of the Overlay: Applicant-Initiated (Reactive)
Any owner or authorized agent seeking to establish a data center on property not already within the DCO District shall first apply for an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to apply the DC-O District to the
subject property. Such application shall be filed, referred to the [REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION
NAME] for recommendation, noticed, and heard by the County Legislative Body in accordance with
T.C.A. § 13-7-105 and the procedures outlined by the Zoning Resolution. The map amendment shall be
approved and effective before the applicant may submit a site plan or special exception application under
Article IV of this Chapter. The pre-application conference required by Section 4.01 shall be held before
submission of the map amendment application.
1.06(E) Application of the Overlay — County-Initiated (Proactive)
The [REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION NAME] or the County Legislative Body may, on its own
initiative and in accordance with T.C.A. § 13-7-105, amend the Official Zoning Map to apply the DC-O
District to one or more areas of the County identified as appropriate for data center development. In
identifying such areas, the Planning Commission and County Legislative Body should consider the
[COUNTY NAME] County Comprehensive Plan, [Note: if applicable] and the [COUNTY NAME] Growth
Plan, existing and planned electric transmission capacity, documented availability of water and
wastewater service capacity confirmed in writing by the applicable utility district, the adequacy of the
road network and designated haul routes, proximity to residential and agricultural uses, and the
prohibited locations identified in Section 3.02. Where the DC-O District has been applied proactively, an
Prepared by the UT Center for Local Planning • clp.tennessee.edu

Page 29 of 64

Model Data Center Zoning Regulations

3

applicant proposing a data center within the mapped area may proceed directly to the application
requirements of Article IV without a further map amendment.
1.06(F) Official Zoning Map
The boundaries of the DC-O District shall be shown on the Official Zoning Map of [COUNTY NAME]
County. The [Planning Director / designated official] shall cause the Official Zoning Map to be updated
within 30 days of the effective date of any amendment applying or removing the DC-O District.
1.06(G) Lapse of Applicant-Initiated Overlay.
Where the DC-O District has been applied at the request of an applicant under Section 1.06(D) and no
site plan or special exception application has been approved within 36 months of the effective date of the
map amendment, the County Legislative Body may, following referral to the Regional Planning
Commission and public hearing under T.C.A. § 13-7-105, amend the Official Zoning Map to remove the
DC-O District from the subject property.

Article II — Definitions
As used in this Chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings set forth below:
•
•
•
•
•

•

•

•

Applicant: Any person, entity, corporation, partnership, or governmental body filing an
application for a permit or approval under this Chapter.
Colocation Facility: A data center in which multiple clients lease or license space for servers
and equipment owned and operated by the client, rather than by the facility operator.
County Highway Department: The department is responsible for the construction,
maintenance, and repair of county roads under T.C.A. § 54-7-101 et seq.
County Legislative Body: The county commission or board of commissioners, of [COUNTY
NAME] County as established by the General Assembly.
Data Center: A facility or group of facilities used primarily for the housing, storage, processing,
management, or distribution of electronic data, including servers, networking equipment, cooling
infrastructure, and related power and security systems. The term includes hyperscale data
centers, colocation facilities, edge computing facilities, and enterprise data centers, and the term
also includes blockchain and cryptocurrency mining facilities. Specifically excluded from this
definition are: telecommunications and broadband network facilities, server rooms and IT
facilities accessory and incidental to a principal use on the same site, and facilities owned or
operated by the State or a political subdivision. NOTE: For purposes of Public Chapter 961 (2026),
a 'data center' is defined as a building with an anticipated maximum peak electric load of fifty
megawatts (50 MW) or greater, and facilities meeting that threshold are subject to additional state
requirements regarding electrical infrastructure costs.
Data Center Overlay District (DC-O): The overlay zoning district established by Section 1.06
of this Chapter, the boundaries of which are shown on the Official Zoning Map, within which data
centers may be established subject to the standards of this Chapter in addition to the standards
of the underlying zoning district.
Edge Computing Facility: A small-scale data center less than or equal to 5,000 square feet,
and that utilizes less than 2 megawatts (MW) of energy and is designed to process data at or near
the point of use to reduce latency, as distinguished from large centralized data centers. Due to
their limited impact, Edge Computing Facilities are exempt from data center overlay
requirements as well as other requirements as specifically noted within this Chapter.
Hyperscale Data Center: A data center facility that either exceeds 250,000 square feet of gross
floor area or consumes more than 100.0 megawatts (MW) of electrical power at projected peak
electric demand.
Prepared by the UT Center for Local Planning • clp.tennessee.edu

Page 30 of 64

Model Data Center Zoning Regulations

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

4

IT Load: The amount of power, measured in kilowatts (kW) or megawatts (MW), consumed by
the information technology equipment housed within a data center.
Large Data Center: A data center facility that is between 100,001 and 250,000 square feet of
gross floor area, or that consumes between >25.0 MW and 100.0 MW of electrical power at
projected peak electric demand.
Medium Data Center: A data center facility that is between 20,001 and 100,000 square feet of
gross floor area, or that consumes between >10.0 MW and 25.0 MW of electrical power at
projected peak electric demand.
Overlay District: A zoning district that is superimposed upon one or more underlying zoning
districts and that imposes standards supplemental to, and in addition to, those of the underlying
district, without removing or replacing the underlying district classification.
Permit Holder: The individual, property owner, or business entity named on an official local
government authorization to use land, build structures, or conduct specific activities authorized
by this Chapter.
Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE): The ratio of total facility energy consumption to IT
equipment energy consumption, as defined by The Green Grid. A PUE of 1.0 is perfect efficiency;
lower is better.
Projected Peak Electric Demand: The demand documented in the electric service capacity
confirmation required under Section 4.02(B), or the facility's projected peak electric demand
during the first three (3) years of operation, whichever is greater.
Regional Planning Commission: The planning commission established under T.C.A. § 13-3101 et seq. with jurisdiction over the planning region that includes [COUNTY NAME] County.
Renewable Energy: Energy generated from solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, or other
sources recognized under applicable federal standards or voluntary programs, including the
Tennessee Valley Authority's green energy programs.
Residentially Zoned Property: Any parcel zoned to allow residential uses per current adopted
zoning standards.
Small Data Center: A data center facility that is between 5,001-20,000 square feet of gross
floor area, or that consumes between 2.0-10.0 MW of electrical power at projected peak electric
demand.
Undevelopable Land: Designated Floodway Area, 100-year floodplains, wetlands, karst
topography, existing easements, and slopes exceeding 15% grade change.
Underlying Zoning District: The base zoning district classification applied to a parcel by the
Official Zoning Map, exclusive of any overlay district.
Utility District: An independent governmental entity created under T.C.A. § 7-82-101 et seq. for
the purpose of providing water, wastewater, gas, or other utility services within a defined service
area.
Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE): The ratio of annual site water usage to IT equipment
energy consumption, measured in liters per kilowatt-hour (L/kWh), as defined by The Green
Grid.
Zoning Resolution: The official zoning regulations of [County Name]. For the purposes of this
document, “Zoning Resolution” refers to the zoning ordinance required by T.C.A. § 13-7-101 et
seq.

Article III — Zoning Districts and Permitted Uses
Section 3.01 — Classification by Scale
For the purposes of this chapter, data centers are classified as follows. With the exception of Edge
Computing Facilities, a data center of a given classification may be established only upon property that
Prepared by the UT Center for Local Planning • clp.tennessee.edu

Page 31 of 64

Model Data Center Zoning Regulations

5

lies within one of the underlying zoning districts specified below for that classification and that is within
the Data Center Overlay District as provided in Section 1.06. The square footages below are inclusive of
all structures utilized primarily for the housing, storage, processing, management, or distribution of
electronic data, including servers, networking equipment, cooling infrastructure, and related power and
security systems.
Standard

Review
Requirements

Notes (ALL ZONING DESIGNATIONS
FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY)

Edge Computing
Facility (≤ 5,000 sq
ft, < 2 MW)

Planning
Commission
(PC) + Site Plan
Review

Permitted in General Commercial (GC), Light
Industrial (LI), and Business Zoning Districts.
Planning Commission approval of a Site Plan
required. Approval of Data Center Overlay not
required.

Small Data Center
(5,001- 20,000 sq ft;
2.0-10.0 MW)

PC Site Plan
Review

Permitted in Heavy Industrial (HI) District
and Light Industrial (LI) District. Planning
Commission Approval of a Site Plan Required.

Medium Data Center
(20,001–100,000 sq
ft; >10.0–25.0 MW)

Special
Exception (LI) +
PC Site Plan
Review

Permitted in Heavy Industrial (HI) District by
right and within the Light Industrial (LI)
district with approval of a Special Exception
by the Board of Zoning Appeals. Planning
Commission approval of a Site Plan required.

Large Data Center
(100,001 -250,000 sq
ft;>25.0-100.0 MW)

Special
Exception (HI
Only) + PC Site
Plan Review

Permitted in Heavy Industrial (HI) District
with approval of a Special Exception by the
Board of Zoning Appeals. Planning
Commission approval of a Site Plan required.

Hyperscale Data
Center (>250,000 sq
ft; >100 MW)

Special
Exception (HI
Only) + PC Site
Plan Review

Permitted in Heavy Industrial (HI) District
with approval of a Special Exception by the
Board of Zoning Appeals. Planning
Commission approval of a Site Plan required.

Note: Where a data center meets the criteria for more than one classification based upon gross floor area
or electrical load, the higher classification shall apply. For example, a 40,000 square foot data center
utilizing 50 megawatts of electricity would be classified as a Large Data Center per the table above.
Author’s Note: All AFOREMENTIONED ZONING DESIGNATIONS USED FOR
ILLUSTRATRIVE PURPOSES ONLY. Jurisdictions should substitute their own zoning
district designations for the example districts shown in this table and should confirm that
the districts listed are consistent with the district list contained in their Zoning Resolution.

Section 3.02 — Prohibited Locations
No data center structure of any classification shall be sited:
• Within any Zone A, Zone AO, or Zone AE floodplain or regulatory floodway as defined by current
FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs);
• Within any area designated as a Scenic Overlay, Conservation District, or Historic District in the
County’s Zoning Resolution; or
• Within 500 feet of any school, hospital, or licensed childcare center.

Prepared by the UT Center for Local Planning • clp.tennessee.edu

Page 32 of 64

Model Data Center Zoning Regulations

1

Section 3.03 — Agricultural Land Considerations
3.03 (A) Agricultural Soil Assessment
Each Data Center Application shall include an agricultural Soil Assessment, identifying all portions of
subject site designated as prime farmland per USDA NRCS most recently published soil survey. The
overall acreage of prime farmland that is to be converted to other uses as part of the development must
be clearly identified upon the submitted development plan.

Article IV — Application and Permitting Requirements
The following application and permitting requirements shall apply to all applications submitted pursuant
to this chapter and shall constitute conditions precedent to any approval. The Planning Commission
and/or Board of Zoning Appeals shall make a finding that all application and permitting requirements
have been met prior to any approval.

Section 4.01 — Pre-Application Conference
Not less than 30 days, and not more than 120 days prior to the formal submission of any map amendment,
site plan, or special exception application, the applicant shall schedule and hold a pre-application
conference with the County’s Planning Director [or authorized County representative] and, for Large or
Hyperscale facilities, the following departments and agencies:
• [COUNTY NAME] County Highway Department;
• [COUNTY NAME] County Engineer (if applicable);
• [COUNTY] County Emergency Management Agency;
• Applicable electric utility service provider;
• Relevant Water and Wastewater Utility District(s).
• Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
• State Fire Marshal's Office (for counties without a professional fire department)
The pre-application conference is an informal consultation and does not constitute the filing of an
application for purposes of any statutory review timeline. No vested rights accrue from participation in a
pre-application conference. If a single joint conference is infeasible, the applicant shall meet separately
with each listed agency and furnish written confirmation of those meetings at or before the preapplication conference.

Section 4.02 — Application Contents
A complete application for Special Exception or Site Plan Approval under this Chapter shall, at minimum
include all of the following:

4.02(A) Site Plan Requirements
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Scaled Site Plan (minimum 1" = 100') showing all proposed structures, setbacks, impervious
surfaces, landscaping, stormwater management features, vehicular access, parking and final
topography;
Calculation of square footage of all proposed building areas that are included in the definition of
“Data Center” as defined at Article II, as well as a proposed data center tier classification.
Topographic survey prepared by a licensed Tennessee surveyor;
Floodplain delineation and FEMA FIRM panel reference;
Identification of all water features and well heads within 1,000 feet of the subject property;
Identification of surrounding land uses and distances to nearest property lines of properties
currently utilized for residential uses;
Grading Plan;
Utility Plan showing electrical service entry points, water service connections, and wastewater
discharge points;
Prepared by the UT Center for Local Planning • clp.tennessee.edu

Page 33 of 64

Model Data Center Zoning Regulations

•
•
•
•
•
•

2

Roadway improvements depicting improvements proposed as part of the development;
Erosion Control and Sediment Control (EPSC) Plan, Stormwater Pollution and Improvement plan
as required;
Photometric Lighting Plan / Lighting Study consistent with the requirements of Section 5.04
Screening and Buffering Plan consistent with the requirements of Section 5.04.
Construction Vehicle Haul Route Plan Sheet depicting how construction vehicles will travel to and
access the site, including identification of all county roads with posted weight limits along the
route;
Agricultural Soil Assessment as required by Section 3.03(A).

4.02(B) Infrastructure Impact Study
For all Data Center Classifications except Edge Computing Facilities, the applicant shall submit a
Professional Engineer (PE)-certified Infrastructure Impact Study addressing:
• Projected electrical load at full build-out, phased by year if applicable, and documentation of
utility service capacity confirmation from TVA or the applicable electric cooperative;
• Projected water consumption (gallons per day at full capacity) and documentation of water system
capacity availability confirmation from the applicable utility;
• Projected wastewater generation and disposal method, including any discharge permits required
from TDEC, and documentation of sewer system capacity availability confirmation from the
applicable utility;
• For all projects that will generate in excess of 100 peak hour trips per day, traffic impact analysis
prepared in accordance with ITE Trip Generation Manual standards; All Large and Hyperscale
facilities shall be required to submit a Construction Traffic Management Plan containing
proposed hours for construction traffic, routes, flagging, staging, wheel wash, daily trip estimates,
and peak concurrent workforce;
• Assessment of impacts to local road infrastructure, including weight limits and pavement
conditions on designated haul routes;
• Assessment of impacts to state routes along haul routes, with documentation of TDOT
coordination where applicable; and
• For any facility projected to have a peak electric demand of fifty (50) megawatts or more during
the first three (3) years of operation, written documentation from the serving electric utility
confirming that the cost of electrical infrastructure necessary to serve the facility will be borne by
the owner or operator consistent with Tennessee Public Chapter 961 (2026), and identifying any
portion of such cost allocated to general utility system improvements.

4.02(C) Energy and Sustainability Disclosure
•
•
•
•
•

Projected annual energy consumption (kWh) at full capacity;
Proposed Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) target and methodology for achieving it;
Source of electrical power supply and percentage of power to be derived from renewable sources;
Renewable energy disclosures under this subsection are informational and do not constitute
independent approval criteria;
Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) target and cooling system description; and
Description of any on-site energy generation, battery storage, or backup power systems. Onsite
energy generation is subject to additional approvals as indicated at Section 5.07.

4.02(D) Acoustic (Noise) Study
•
•
•

Baseline Ambient Sound Survey to show the sound levels of the Data Center project location prior
to commencement of construction;
Sound emitting equipment inventory to highlight what parts will be creating sound from the Data
Center;
Frequency Analysis to indicate how often noise will be released from the Data Center;
Prepared by the UT Center for Local Planning • clp.tennessee.edu

Page 34 of 64

Model Data Center Zoning Regulations

•
•
•

3

Sound mitigation plan to reduce noise pollution;
The Acoustic Study shall demonstrate that the proposed facility will comply with the noise
standards established in Section 5.04 of this Chapter;
The study shall be prepared by a Tennessee licensed professional engineer with expertise in
acoustical engineering.

4.02(E) Emergency Response Plan
•
•
•
•

Hazardous materials inventory and Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for all chemicals used in cooling and
fire suppression systems;
Fire suppression system specifications and coordination with [COUNTY NAME] Fire
Department; and
Spill prevention and emergency response contact information.
For applications proposing on-site battery energy storage, potential concerns related to lithiumion thermal runaway, off-gassing, and fire-service access shall be addressed.

Section 4.03 — Application Processing Timeline
Applications shall be reviewed according to the following timeline:
• Pre-application conference: the pre-application conference required by Section 4.01 must be held
not less than 30 days nor more than 120 days of formal submittal of the application to the County;
• Application completeness determination: within 10 business days of submission;
• Staff comments provided to the developer: within 30 business days of submission;
• Added to relevant review body agenda: within 60 business days of submission.

Section 4.04 — Fees
Application fees shall be established by resolution of the County Legislative Body and posted on the
County’s official website [if applicable], and shall be maintained in the office of the Planning Director [or
designated County official]. Fees shall be sufficient to recover the County’s reasonable costs of review,
including costs of independent technical review consultants retained by the County at the applicant’s
expense. The County shall provide the applicant with an estimate of anticipated independent review costs
prior to engagement of consultants.

Section 4.05 — Permit Duration and Vesting
•

All projects approved under this Chapter shall vest in accordance with T.C.A. § 13-3-413
(Tennessee Vested Property Rights Act). Vested rights attach upon submittal of a site plan or
special exception application under Article IV that is in substantial compliance with these
standards. "Substantial Compliance" means that the application submittal contains all materials
required by Sections 4.02 and 4.04 of this Chapter. An application for an amendment to the
Official Zoning Map under Section 1.06(D) is a legislative request and is not a development plan
for purposes of T.C.A. § 13-3-413; no vested rights accrue upon its filing, upon its approval, or
upon participation in the pre-application conference.
• A Site Plan approved under this chapter shall expire unless a building permit is issued within 36
months of the Regional Planning Commission’s approval of the Site Plan.
• A Building Permit issued under this chapter shall expire if construction has not commenced
within twenty-four (24) months of the Regional Planning Commission’s approval of the Site Plan.
One extension of up to twelve (12) months may be granted by the Codes Director upon written
request.
• Permits that expire must be re-applied for under the standards in effect at the time of
reapplication.
*Author’s Note: If this information is contained elsewhere within the zoning code, this
section may not be applicable
Prepared by the UT Center for Local Planning • clp.tennessee.edu

Page 35 of 64

Model Data Center Zoning Regulations

4

Section 4.06 — Phased Development
Applicants for Large or Hyperscale data centers may submit a phased development plan as part of the
initial application. Each phase shall be identified on the site plan with projected timelines and
infrastructure requirements. Subsequent phases may proceed under the original permit approval, subject
to compliance with all conditions of approval and demonstration that cumulative impacts remain
consistent with the approved Infrastructure Impact Study. If cumulative impacts, including total
electrical load, water consumption, traffic generation, or impervious surface, exceed those projected in
the original study, an amended permit application shall be required.

Section 4.07 — Duties of Administrative Bodies and Officials
It shall be the duty of the Regional Planning Commission, Board of Zoning Appeals, and any professional
staff charged with implementation of these regulations to ensure that the requirements of this Chapter
are met. Any decisions made to approve any application submitted under this Chapter shall be based
upon a finding that all applicable requirements have been met. Denied applicants shall be notified in
writing of their right to appeal. The County Legislative Body may delegate approval of any Special
Exception required by this Chapter to the Building Commissioner or other administrative official in
accordance with the requirements of T.C.A. § 13-7-109. Amendment of the Zoning Resolution or Zoning
Map may only be accomplished via a majority vote of the County Legislative Body, upon recommendation
of the Regional Planning Commission.

Article V — Development Standards
The following development standards shall apply to all applications submitted pursuant to this chapter,
and shall constitute conditions precedent to any approval. The Planning Commission and/or Board of
Zoning Appeals shall make a finding that all development standards have been met prior to any approval.

Section 5.01 — Dimensional Standards
For Small Data Centers, Medium Data Centers, Large Data Centers, and Hyperscale Data Centers, the
following dimensional standards shall apply and shall supersede any requirement of the subject
property’s underlying zoning district. For Edge Computing Centers, the relevant zoning district standards
of the subject property shall apply.
Author’s Note: These Dimensional Standards are for illustrative purposes only and are not
intended to be a recommendation. Communities must choose their own dimensional
standards based on their own unique characteristics.
Standard

Requirement

Notes

Minimum Lot Size —
Small Data Center

5 acres

May be reduced by 20% for brownfield or
previously developed sites.

Minimum Lot Size —
Medium Data Center

20 acres

—

Minimum Lot Size —
Large Data Center

50 acres

None

Minimum Lot Size —
Hyperscale Data Center

100 acres

None

Prepared by the UT Center for Local Planning • clp.tennessee.edu

Page 36 of 64

Model Data Center Zoning Regulations

Minimum Front Building
Setback*

150 feet

From public right-of-way. Measured to
nearest structural wall. If directly across
public right of way from parcels currently
zoned for residential or agricultural use:
Hyperscale: 1,500 Feet; Large: 1,000 feet;
Medium: 500 feet, Small: 250 Feet

Minimum Side/Rear
Building Setback*

75 feet

Measured to nearest structural wall. If
adjacent to parcels currently zoned for
residential or agricultural use:
Hyperscale: 1,500 Feet; Large: 1,000 feet;
Medium: 500 feet, Small: 250 Feet

Maximum Building
Height

65 feet

—

Maximum Lot Coverage
(impervious)

60%

Regardless of lot coverage, all applicable
stormwater requirements shall be met.

Minimum Landscaped
Area

15% of gross lot
area

Includes any required on-site vegetative
screening or buffers.

Minimum Generator
Distance* (<2 MW)

500 Feet

Distance is measured from any on-site
generator to the nearest residentially or
agriculturally zoned property line.

Minimum Generator
Distance* (2-20 MW)

750 Feet

Distance is measured from any on-site
generator to the nearest residentially or
agriculturally zoned property line.

Minimum Generator
Distance* (>20 MW)

1,000 Feet

Distance is measured from any on-site
generator to the nearest residentially or
agriculturally zoned property line.

5

Note 1: All minimum lot sizes indicated are gross lot sizes.
Note 2: Undevelopable areas including designated floodway areas, 100-year floodplains, wetlands, karst
topography, existing easements, and slopes exceeding 15%, may not constitute more than 25% of the
actual lot area submitted for development.
*Distances shall be measured based on lot lines in effect on the day of development plan approval by the
relevant review body.

Section 5.02 — Energy Standards*
Standard

Requirement

Notes

Maximum Power Usage
Effectiveness (PUE)

≤ 1.5 (design
target)

Applicant must document PUE
methodology. Annual reporting required
per Section 6.02.

Backup Generators

Diesel ≤ 100
hours per year
nonemergency
operation

Hydrogen fuel cells or battery storage
encouraged. Subject to TDEC air quality
permit requirements.

Prepared by the UT Center for Local Planning • clp.tennessee.edu

Page 37 of 64

Model Data Center Zoning Regulations

On-Site Solar Readiness

All roofs solarready

6

Structural loading and conduit pathways
designed for future PV installation.

*Author’s Note: This section is applicable only in county jurisdictions that maintain a
building department with code enforcement authority under T.C.A. § 68-120-101.

Section 5.03 — Water Standards
Standard

Requirement

Notes

Maximum Water Usage
Effectiveness (WUE)

≤ 0.5 (design
target)

Applicant must document WUE
methodology. Annual reporting required
per Section 7.02.

Cooling System

Air-cooled or
closed-loop

Evaporative cooling systems are
permissible, but shall comply with the
WUE standards of this table and shall
require documentation of water supply
capacity confirmation from the relevant
utility district, consistent with the
Infrastructure Impact Study required
under Section 4.02(B)

Drought & Curtailment

Written
agreement with
applicable water
utility or on-site
storage/
alternative
supply.

A written curtailment agreement with the
utility district or a demonstration of onsite storage/alternative supply sufficient
to maintain operations without drawing
on the public system during a declared
drought or system emergency required.
Greywater facilities can potentially satisfy
these alternative supply requirements.

Stormwater
Management

Zero net
increase in peak
runoff

Stormwater plan subject to TDEC
Construction General Permit for
Stormwater Discharges.

Groundwater Protection

No discharge
without TDEC
Underground
Injection
Control (UIC)
permit

Cooling tower blowdown must be
discharged to sanitary sewer or treated
on-site.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: In counties where water and wastewater service is provided by
independent utility districts, the County has no authority to compel districts to extend
service or expand capacity. Applicants must independently secure service commitments
from the applicable utility district(s). Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require
any utility district to modify its infrastructure or service area to accommodate data center
development.

Section 5.04 — Screening and Buffering
•

All mechanical equipment, cooling towers, generators, and utility infrastructure visible from a
public right-of-way or adjacent residential or agricultural district shall be screened by a minimum

Prepared by the UT Center for Local Planning • clp.tennessee.edu

Page 38 of 64

Model Data Center Zoning Regulations

7

8-foot solid masonry wall or equivalent opaque fence, or elevated berm supplemented by a
minimum 20-foot planted buffer of native vegetation;
◦ Screening of sufficient height and opacity shall be installed that mechanical equipment is not
visible from the ground plane at any point on an adjoining residential or agricultural property
line or public right-of-way, as demonstrated by cross-section drawings at not less than four
locations.
• All exterior lighting shall be full cutoff fixtures directed downward and inward; no light trespass
shall exceed 0.5 foot-candles at any property line adjacent to a residential or agricultural district
or at any street right of way line;
• All utility connections (power, fiber, water) shall be installed underground within the site
boundary;
• Sound attributable to the facility, measured as a one-hour equivalent continuous sound level
(Leq(1h)) at any point on an adjoining property line, shall not exceed:
◦ 50 dBA between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. and 45 dBA between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. at
any residential or agricultural property line;
◦ Pure tones, which include single-frequency sounds such as whines, hums, whistles, and other
vibrations shall not exceed 40 dBA at any residential or agricultural property line;
◦ 65 dBA at any commercial property line;
◦ 75 dBA at any industrial property line; and
• Backup generator testing shall be limited to weekdays between 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM. Generator
testing and usage during times of emergency shall not exceed 65 dBA at the nearest adjoining
residential property line.
Author’s Note: For consistency, these standards may also be adopted elsewhere in the
zoning code and be made applicable to all industrial uses.

Section 5.05 — Transportation, Access & Parking
•
•
•

•
•

•

Data centers shall not derive their sole access to a public road via a private easement through
adjoining property;
For emergency service, a minimum of two separate vehicular access points onto the public road
network shall be provided for facilities exceeding 50,000 square feet;
Construction vehicle haul routes shall be designated in the application and approved by the
County Highway Department. The applicant shall execute a Road Use and Maintenance
Agreement with the County prior to issuance of any building permit and may be required to post
surety in order to ensure any damage to County streets will be repaired by the developer at no
expense to the County;
◦ NOTE: Similar agreements may be required with TDOT for State maintained highways and
any impacted city streets. Applicants are encouraged to engage with those entities as early in
the process as possible.
All access roads within the facility site shall be paved with an asphaltic or concrete surface and
shall be a minimum of 20 feet in width and designed to accommodate AASHTO HS-20 loading;
If the submitted traffic impact analysis determines that road improvements are warranted, the
applicant shall fund or provide a proportionate share of improvements necessitated by the data
center's traffic impact, as determined by the traffic impact analysis and consistent with the nexus
and proportionality standards applicable to development conditions under Tennessee law.
Data centers must provide a minimum parking of three spaces per thousand gross square feet of
office space to be occupied within the development, OR one parking space for every one employee,
based upon the maximum number of employees on site during the largest shift, whichever is
lesser.

Prepared by the UT Center for Local Planning • clp.tennessee.edu

Page 39 of 64

Model Data Center Zoning Regulations

1

Section 5.06 — Fire Safety
•

All data centers shall be equipped with an automatic fire suppression system designed in
compliance with adopted building and fire codes;
• An emergency access road meeting [COUNTY NAME] and/or State adopted Fire Code standards
shall be maintained around all structures.
• The applicant shall coordinate directly with the State Fire Marshal's Office for plan review and
inspection of fire suppression systems.
• The applicant shall coordinate directly with professional and/or volunteer local fire officials
charged with providing fire protection services to the proposed development.
Author’s Note: Additional training may be necessary for local fire agencies in order to
prepare for the unique character of data center development.

Section 5.07 — On-Site Electric Generation
•
•
•
•
•
•

Electric generating facilities serving a data center, other than emergency standby generation, shall
be reviewed as a separate principal use and shall require approval of a Special Exception by the
Board of Zoning Appeals. The following conditions shall apply:
All requirements of Article IV and Article V of this Chapter shall be met;
Ongoing Compliance and Reporting requirements contained at Article VI shall apply;
Any structures utilized as part of the electric generating facility shall be counted toward overall
lot coverage requirements for data centers contained within this article;
All structures and other equipment incidental to the electric generation facility shall be separated
by not less than 1,500 feet from any residentially or agriculturally zoned property, school,
hospital, or licensed childcare center.
In addition to all materials contained at Article IV and Article V of this Chapter, applications shall
include:
◦ Documentation of all required TDEC air permits or a written determination that none are
required;
◦ Fuel type, delivery method, and on-site storage capacity;
◦ Stack height and dispersion modeling analysis; stacks exceeding the maximum building
heights established by this chapter may be approved as part of the Special Exception request
if demonstrated to be necessary to protect air quality;
◦ Written documentation of any interconnection approval required from the applicable electric
utility or TVA under Tenn. Public Chapter 961 (2026).

Article VI — Ongoing Compliance and Reporting
Section 6.01 — Operations Commencement Notice
The permit holder shall notify the County Planning Director [or designated official] in writing within 30
days of commencing commercial operations, including the date operations commenced, current IT load
(in megawatts), and initial measured PUE and WUE values.

Section 6.02 — Annual Operations Report
For all data centers except Edge Computing Facilities, by March 1 of each year following commencement
of operations, the permit holder shall submit an Annual Operations Report to the County Mayor [or
designated official] containing:
• Total energy consumed (kWh) in the prior calendar year and measured annual average PUE;
• Total water consumed (gallons) in the prior calendar year and measured annual average WUE;
• Percentage of energy derived from renewable sources;
Prepared by the UT Center for Local Planning • clp.tennessee.edu

Page 40 of 64

Model Data Center Zoning Regulations

2

• Any changes to cooling technology, backup power systems, or fire suppression systems;
• Any environmental incidents, spills, or regulatory violations occurring in the prior year; and
• Generator fuel consumption and hours of operation.
Annual reports shall be made available to the public on the County’s official website [if applicable] within
30 days of receipt and shall be maintained in the office of the County Planning Director [or designated
County official]. The permit holder may request to designate specific data within the Annual Operations
Report as confidential business information, provided that a specific statutory exemption applies. The
County Attorney shall review any such designation and, to the extent permitted by the Tennessee Public
Records Act (T.C.A. § 10-7-503 et seq.), may redact proprietary data from the publicly available version
of the report. Aggregate performance metrics (PUE, WUE, renewable energy percentage) shall not be
eligible for confidential designation.
Author’s Note: The above section should be construed as optional, should the jurisdiction
wish to foster increased transparency surrounding data center development.

Section 6.03 — Inspections
The County Planning Director [or designated county official] shall have the right to conduct annual
compliance inspections upon reasonable notice (minimum 5 business days). The permit holder shall
provide access to all areas relevant to verifying compliance with this chapter. Inspections shall be limited
to exterior areas, mechanical equipment areas, and areas related to the specific compliance standards
established in this chapter, including noise measurement points, screening/buffering, stormwater
management features, and generator installations. If consent to inspect is withheld, the Planning Director
[or designated County official] may obtain an administrative warrant as recommended by the County
Attorney prior to any such inspection. Access to secure server rooms or areas containing client equipment
shall not be required unless specifically authorized by the permit holder. Complaint driven inspections
may occur at shorter intervals at the discretion of the Planning Director [or designated county official].

Section 6.04 — Permit Modification
Any material change increasing the facility’s size, energy consumption, water use, or imposed conditions
shall, depending on the change requested, require Board of Zoning Appeals, and/or Regional Planning
Commission review utilizing the review process outlined at Section 3.01.

Section 6.05 — Permit Transfer
Upon change of ownership or operator, the new owner or operator shall notify the County within 60 days
and acknowledge in writing that they assume all obligations under the existing permit approval. Any
decommissioning bond or letter of credit shall be placed in the new owner or operator’s name within 60
days of the ownership or operatorship change.

Article VII — Enforcement and Penalties
Section 7.01 — Violations
Any person, entity, or operator who violates any provision of this chapter or fails to comply with any
condition of a permit or agreement issued hereunder shall be subject to:
• Written notice of violation from the Planning Director [or designated county official], requiring
cure within 30 days;
• Enforcement through appropriate legal action or proceeding in the Chancery or Circuit Court of
[COUNTY NAME] County, consistent with T.C.A. § 13-7-112, including actions for injunctive
relief, mandamus, or other appropriate remedy; and
• Revocation of any applicable permits.
Prepared by the UT Center for Local Planning • clp.tennessee.edu

Page 41 of 64

Model Data Center Zoning Regulations

3

Nothing in this section shall preclude the County and the permit holder from entering into a consent
order establishing a timeline and conditions for achieving compliance.

Section 7.02 — Appeals
Any enforcement or interpretation decision made by any administrative official charged with the
implementation of these requirements may be appealed to the County Board of Zoning Appeals
consistent with T.C.A. § 13-7-109. Decisions of the Board of Zoning Appeals, Regional Planning
Commission or County Legislative Body are subject to judicial review in accordance with the laws of the
State of Tennessee.

Section 7.03 — Abandoned or Decommissioned Facilities
A facility that has ceased operations for 30 consecutive months shall be deemed abandoned. Upon such
a finding, within sixty 60 days the permit holder shall:
• Restore and stabilize the site consistent with applicable environmental standards, including
adopted county stormwater regulations.
Applicants for Large and Hyperscale facilities shall post a decommissioning bond or letter of credit
sufficient to cover reasonable site restoration and stabilization costs prior to issuance of any building
permit. Decommissioning surety shall be posted with the County Planning Director [or designated
official] prior to issuance of any building permit. Decommissioning surety shall auto-renew each year
with no effort required by the County. The issuing financial institution shall be located within the State
of Tennessee. The Planning Director [or designated County official] may require an independent cost
estimate for any facility and may adjust the surety amount accordingly.

Article VIII — Severability, Amendments, And Effective
Date
Section 8.01 — Severability
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or provision of this chapter is held invalid or unconstitutional,
such holding shall not affect the validity of any other provision, it being the intent of the County
Legislative Body that this chapter shall stand notwithstanding the invalidity of any part.

Section 8.02 — Amendments
This chapter may be amended by the County Legislative Body following Regional Planning Commission
recommendation, public notice, and public hearing consistent with T.C.A. § 13-7-105. It is the policy of
the County Legislative Body and the Regional Planning Commission to review the standards established
within this chapter at intervals of not more than five years following adoption, and to update such
standards as warranted by changes in technology, industry practice, and applicable state and federal law.
Failure to conduct a scheduled review shall not affect the validity or enforceability of existing standards.
Any amendment to this Chapter, and any amendment to the Official Zoning Map applying or removing
the Data Center Overlay District, constitutes an amendment to the County Zoning Resolution and shall
be adopted in accordance with T.C.A. § 13-7-105.

Section 8.03 — Effective Date
This chapter shall take effect upon passage and publication as required by Tennessee law and shall apply
to all applications submitted on or after the effective date.

Prepared by the UT Center for Local Planning • clp.tennessee.edu

Page 42 of 64

Model Data Center Zoning Regulations

4

Certification Of Adoption
The foregoing amendment to the [COUNTY NAME] County Zoning Resolution was referred to the
[REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION NAME] on the _____ day of _________, 20__ and was
recommended for [approval / denial] on the _____ day of _________, 20__.
________________________________________
COMMISSION NAME]

Chair,

[REGIONAL

PLANNING

Notice of public hearing was published in [NEWSPAPER OF GENERAL CIRCULATION] on the _____
day of _________, 20__, and a public hearing was held before the County Legislative Body on the
_____ day of _________, 20__, all as required by T.C.A. § 13-7-105.
The foregoing amendment to the [COUNTY NAME] County Zoning Resolution, and the corresponding
amendment to the Official Zoning Map of [COUNTY NAME] County, were duly passed and adopted by
the County Legislative Body of [COUNTY NAME] County, Tennessee, at a regular meeting held on the
_____ day of _________, 20__.
________________________________________ County Mayor/Executive, [COUNTY NAME]
County, Tennessee
________________________________________ County Clerk, [COUNTY NAME] County,
Tennessee
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
________________________________________
County Attorney
Date: ________________________________

Prepared by the UT Center for Local Planning • clp.tennessee.edu

Page 43 of 64

P.O. Box 22
Oakland, Tennessee 38060
www.conniechadwicklaw.com

Phone: (615) 417-2129
[email protected]

October 26, 2026
VIA EMAIL ONLY
Jim Atkinson, Planning Director, Fayette County
Skip Taylor, Fayette County Mayor
Tom Minor, Fayette County Attorney
Re: Proposed Zoning Text Amendment - Data Centers and Cryptocurrency Mining
Facilities (Article V, Section 23; SA-DC District)
Dear Gentlemen:
I respectfully submit the enclosed draft resolution amending the Fayette County Zoning Resolution
to regulate data centers and cryptocurrency mining facilities and ask that it be referred to the
Fayette County Regional Planning Commission for recommendation under T.C.A. § 13-7-105. I
offer it as a resident and as a member of the citizen group that assisted with the County’s 2026
Solar and Development Standards Resolution. I am not counsel to the County, and nothing in this
letter is a legal opinion to the County; the County Attorney’s independent review controls.
1. What the resolution does.
The Board of Commissioners has already adopted development review tiers, environmental
review, construction standards, and enforcement procedures that reach data centers. Those rules
do not address what is distinctive about this use: continuous low-frequency noise, large water and
power demand, backup generators, and the risk of an abandoned single-purpose building. The
amendment adds those standards in five areas:
(a) Where they may go. A new SA-DC, Special Activity-Data Center District, rezoned site
by site like SA-Solar. Small accessory installations (5,000 sq. ft. and 1 MW or less) are
allowed inside commercial and industrial buildings. Facilities over 500,000 sq. ft. or 100
MW are prohibited.
(b) How far from neighbors. Separation of 1,000 feet (Small and Medium) or one-half mile
(Large and on-site power plants) from homes, schools, churches, and other sensitive
receptors, and 1.5 miles from any other data center or utility-scale solar facility.
(c) How they must operate. Closed-loop cooling only; strict limits on drawing public water
or groundwater; A-weighted and low-frequency (C-weighted) noise limits; Tier 4
generators with limited testing; no light trespass; and a 100-foot native-species buffer.
Page 1 of 6

Page 44 of 64

(d) How they are reviewed. Tier 4 review with a full Environmental Impact Study, plus noise,
hydrogeology, energy, and air studies; an applicant-led community meeting with mailed
notice to owners within one mile (and within 2 miles for facilities implementing a well
penetration); and annual public reporting.
(e) How they come down. Removal and restoration within 12 months of abandonment, backed
by a letter of credit or surety bond equal to 100% of an engineer’s estimate and structured
to stay outside a bankruptcy estate.
2. How it fits the County’s existing amendments.
The draft is written in the format, numbering, and defined terms of the Solar and Development
Standards Resolution (rev. Aug. 14, 2026) and cross-references it instead of repeating it.
Specifically:
(a) Data centers other than accessory installations become Tier 4 High-Impact Development
under Article V, Section 19.5 and must file a full Environmental Impact Study under
Section 22, which may not be waived.
(b) Enforcement, stop-work orders, right of entry, and cost recovery follow Article II; appeals
follow Article III, Section 3.
(c) Recordation and continuing obligations (13.10), landscape plans (13.6), public-road access
(13.4.1), road-damage bonds (20.6), review schedules (13.12), fees (Appendix A, Section
7), and severability (Article XI) apply by reference.
(d) The 1.5-mile spacing between facilities, and the sequence of site-specific rezoning, then
location review, then design review, mirror the SA-Solar framework. The County Planner
may need to run an assessment on what viable properties would exist under this framework
as was done for solar regulations. I do not independently have the ability to run such an
analysis.
The draft departs from the solar rules in three places the Board may wish to align or keep: a twoyear lapse of location and design approvals (solar uses five and three); the 1.5-mile spacing runs
from a new data center to existing solar, but not yet the reverse; and decommissioning security for
data centers is not limited by the solar decommissioning statute, discussed below.
3. Sources used to develop the draft.
The starting point was the UT Center for Local Planning’s model county regulations. Each
standard was then replaced with the strictest comparable provision I could find in adopted law
elsewhere, keeping only those that have survived, or have not yet been successfully challenged in,
court. The sources fall into four groups.
Templates and the County’s own law.
(a) UT Center for Local Planning, with CTAS legal staff, Model Data Center Zoning
Regulations, County Government Edition (Oct. 2026): the overall framework, tier
structure, application contents, A-weighted noise limits, generator test hours and distances,
and annual reporting.
2

Page 45 of 64

(b) Fayette County Solar and Development Standards Resolution (rev. Aug. 14, 2026): format,
defined terms, review procedure, enforcement, and the 1.5-mile anti-clustering rule.
Ordinances adopted elsewhere.
Jurisdiction

Provision drawn from it

Metro Nashville-Davidson County,
BL2026-1391 (effective July 31,
2026)

Size tiers and “maximum utilization capacity”; ban on campuses over
500,000 sq. ft. or 100 MW; anti-segmentation; half-mile separation for
large facilities; closed-loop cooling; Tier 4 generators with 10
hours/month testing; 15% additive renewable supply; ASHRAE 90.4;
utility capacity letters as a condition of approval

Prince William County, Virginia,
noise ordinance (adopted Oct. 2025,
effective May 1, 2026)

C-weighted limits of 73 dBC day and 68 dBC night for low-frequency
noise

Linn County, Iowa (2026)

1,000-foot residential separation; water study and water-use agreement;
applicant-led community meeting

Fairfax County, Virginia (Sept. 2024)

Equipment enclosure and residential setbacks

Henrico County, Virginia

100-foot vegetative buffer

Town of Marana, Arizona (Dec. 2024)

No public potable water for cooling

Barber County, Kansas, Google
project agreement

Decommissioning and road security (a negotiated agreement, not an
ordinance)

Statutes and cases.
(a) T.C.A. §§ 13-7-101 to -119 (County Zoning Act); § 13-3-101 et seq. (regional planning);
§§ 13-3-413 and 13-4-310 (vested property rights); § 29-43-101 (Acts 2023, ch. 453,
rejecting the pending ordinance doctrine); § 66-9-207 (solar decommissioning, Pub. Ch.
866 of 2022); Public Chapter 961 (2026) (data center electrical infrastructure costs); and
Title 47, Chapter 5 (letters of credit).
(b) Tinsley Properties, LLC v. Grundy County (Tenn. Feb. 25, 2026); Harding Academy v.
Metropolitan Government (Tenn. 2007); and Washington County v. BrightRidge and Red
Dog Technologies (Washington Co. Ch. Ct. 2022; settled 2023).
(c) Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, 601 U.S. 267 (2024); Nollan and Dolan; Midlantic National
Bank v. New Jersey DEP, 474 U.S. 494 (1986); and 11 U.S.C. § 362(b)(4).
(d) 2026 decisions on data center moratoria and regulations: DC BLOX v. Metro Nashville
(M.D. Tenn., Oct. 2026); Bristolville v. Lordstown, 2026-Ohio-4073; Andover Township,
New Jersey; Chatham County, North Carolina; Imperial County, California; Hill County,
Texas; and the Memphis City Council public-comment ruling (W.D. Tenn., Oct. 2026).
Technical and secondary sources. ANSI S1.4 and S12.9 (sound measurement and tonality),
ANSI/ASHRAE 90.4, NFPA 855, U.S. EPA Tier 4 standards, U.S. Treasury Circular 570, ISP98,
the Tennessee Invasive Plant Council list, and news and legal-industry reporting on the cases
above.
Only the Nashville ordinance, the UT model, the County’s solar resolution, and T.C.A. § 29-43101 were reviewed in full text. The other statutes, Tinsley, the out-of-state provisions, and the 2026
court outcomes were confirmed through official summaries, bill text excerpts, news coverage, or
3

Page 46 of 64

legal-industry reporting. Before adoption, I recommend that the County Attorney pull the official
text of each and confirm it says what this letter attributes to it.
4. Legal analysis.
Authority. The County’s power to adopt these standards rests on the County Zoning Act. After
Tinsley Properties v. Grundy County, a county regulation limiting where a use may locate is void
unless adopted as a zoning amendment through § 13-7-105, with referral to the Regional Planning
Commission, published notice, and a public hearing. The draft is written as such an amendment
for that reason. Public Chapter 961 (2026) governs who pays for electrical infrastructure but does
not preempt local land-use regulation of data centers.
Track record. Very few data center standards anywhere have been tested to a final ruling on the
merits. Most “hold up” only in the sense that no one has successfully challenged them yet. The
most relevant results are favorable but preliminary:
(a) In October 2026 a federal court dismissed a developer’s suit against Nashville’s data center
moratorium and regulations. The equal-protection claim was dismissed; the state-law
claims were dismissed without prejudice, and the developer was allowed to amend.
(b) In October 2026 the Ohio Supreme Court held that a village did not have to process a data
center site plan filed days before a moratorium.
(c) In 2022 the Washington County Chancery Court held that a cryptocurrency mine on utilityowned land was not a “public utility” exempt from zoning. The case settled with the mine
closing.
(d) A New Jersey developer dismissed with prejudice its challenge to a township’s outright
ban, without a ruling.
There are also cautionary results. A North Carolina court let a project proceed despite a moratorium
because it was already permitted under existing zoning. An Imperial County, California
moratorium was set aside for inadequate findings. Hill County, Texas rescinded its moratorium
after a $100 million suit.
Provision-by-provision assessment. The table below summarizes the principal strengths and
risks of each major provision and the fallback if it is challenged.
Provision

Strength

Main risk

Fallback

SA-DC rezoning,
location and design
review (23.5, 23.8)

Strong. Mirrors the
adopted SA-Solar
structure; rezoning is
legislative and
discretionary

Uneven treatment of
competing applicants (the
DC BLOX claim)

Apply identical procedures
and keep a written record
of each decision

Data center is not a
public utility (23.3)

Strong. Washington
County Chancery ruling

Utility-owned sites may
test it again

None needed

500,000 sq. ft. / 100 MW
cap; anti-segmentation
(23.6, 23.7)

Good. Adopted in
Nashville; survived the
first federal challenge

Argument that a ban on a
lawful use is arbitrary or
de facto exclusion

Severable; findings on
infrastructure capacity
support it

4

Page 47 of 64

Provision

Strength

Main risk

Fallback

Separation distances and
1.5-mile spacing (23.9)

Good. Same approach as
the County’s solar rules
and Nashville’s half-mile
rule

De facto exclusion if
almost no land qualifies

Identify some potentially
eligible land in the Growth
Plan

Prohibited locations, incl. Strong. Ordinary land-use
25% prime farmland
criteria
(23.10)

Few

Board findings for
alternative sites

Noise limits in dBA and
dBC (23.13)

Moderate. dBC limits are
new; Prince William’s
took effect May 2026

Measurement disputes;
claims limits are
unattainable

Bracketed dBC values
allow adjustment;
acoustical record is key

Closed-loop cooling;
water and well caps
(23.14)

Moderate to weak. Water
Preemption argument
allocation and well permits
are State matters

Framed as land-use
conditions tied to aquifer
findings; severable

Generator standards
(23.15, 23.17)

Moderate. Nashville uses
the same Tier 4 and testhour rules

Preemption under the
Tennessee Air Quality
Act; Fayette has no local
air program

Framed as zoning
conditions; severable

Energy efficiency and
renewable supply (23.16)

Weakest

Overlap with TVA and
Public Chapter 961

First to remove if
challenged; severable

Road security and
improvements (23.20)

Good if proportional

Sheetz requires nexus and
rough proportionality even
for legislative conditions

Tied to a pavement survey
and the traffic study; no
community-fund exaction

Decommissioning
security and bankruptcy
terms (23.27)

Moderate

No statute expressly
authorizes removal bonds
for non-solar uses

Also memorialize in a
development agreement
signed at design approval

Pending applications and moratoria. T.C.A. § 29-43-101 rejects the pending ordinance doctrine:
an application is judged under the law in effect when it is filed. It does not prohibit moratoria, and
the vested-rights statutes expressly toll vesting periods during a local moratorium (§§ 13-3413(g)(4), 13-4-310(g)(4)). The practical consequence is that these rules, or a moratorium, protect
only against applications filed after adoption. Section 9 of the resolution is drafted accordingly.
Delay carries real risk.
Decommissioning and bankruptcy. The only Tennessee statute I found that limits local
decommissioning security is § 66-9-207, which applies to solar facilities of 5 MW or more. The
draft exempts any on-site solar from Section 23.27.3 to stay consistent with it. No local resolution
can give the County priority over other creditors in bankruptcy, since federal law sets that order.
Section 23.27.6 instead keeps the money outside the bankruptcy estate: letter-of-credit proceeds
are generally not the debtor’s property, draws are triggered by a filing or non-renewal, the
landowner is jointly liable, and cleanup is framed as a police-power obligation under 11 U.S.C. §
362(b)(4) and Midlantic. Because data centers are often owned by single-purpose LLCs on leased
land, landowner joinder is likely the most important of these protections. I recommend review by
bankruptcy counsel.
Public comment. In October 2026 a federal court reversed the Memphis City Council’s bans on
speakers at data center meetings as likely viewpoint discrimination and First Amendment
violations. Hearings on this amendment should apply viewpoint-neutral time and conduct rules.
5

Page 48 of 64

5. Decisions for the County and recommended next steps.
The following items are bracketed or left open for the County’s judgment:
(a) The C-weighted noise limits in Section 23.13 (drafted at 73 dBC day and 68 dBC night)
and the nighttime increase over baseline (drafted at 5 dBA).
(b) The water-use and well caps in Section 23.14(b) and (c).
(d) The credit-rating threshold for letter-of-credit issuers and sureties in Section 23.27.6(c).
(d) The minimum evergreen share of buffer plantings in Section 23.19(e).
(e) Separation from municipal corporate limits, and distances from public wells and National
Register properties, in Sections 23.9 and 23.10.
(f) Whether to amend solar Section 13.3.6 so the 1.5-mile spacing also runs from new solar
facilities to existing data centers.
(g) Confirmation that the Article VIII definition numbering (1.29 onward) follows the solar
definitions as adopted.
I also recommend the following steps:
(a) Check for pending applications now. Under § 29-43-101, any application filed before
adoption will be judged under current law.
(b) Build the record before the vote. An acoustician’s memo on low-frequency noise, a
groundwater memo on the Memphis Sand aquifer, and a summary of the Washington
County and Prince William County experience should be placed before the Planning
Commission and reflected in the findings.
(c) Verify sources. Confirm the out-of-state provisions and 2026 decisions against official
text, as noted above.
(d) Obtain bankruptcy counsel’s review of Section 23.27.6 and consider a standard
development agreement memorializing financial assurance at design approval.
Thank you for your work on the 2026 amendments and for considering this proposal. I would
welcome the chance to meet with staff and the County Attorney, and I am glad to provide copies
of any source listed above.
Respectfully,

Connie Chadwick, Esq.
Enclosure: Proposed Resolution, Data Centers and Cryptocurrency Mining Facilities (rev. Oct.
26, 2026)
6

Page 49 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

RESOLUTION NO. ______
A RESOLUTION TO AMEND THE FAYETTE COUNTY ZONING RESOLUTION
REGARDING DATA CENTERS AND CRYPTOCURRENCY MINING FACILITIES;
ESTABLISHING THE SA-DC, SPECIAL ACTIVITY-DATA CENTER DISTRICT;
LOCATION, SEPARATION, NOISE, WATER, GENERATOR, AND OPERATING
STANDARDS; REPORTING; DECOMMISSIONING; AND RELATED MATTERS
WHEREAS, Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 13, Chapter 7, Part 1 authorizes the Fayette County Board of
Commissioners to adopt and amend zoning regulations for the unincorporated territory of Fayette
County; and
WHEREAS, Tennessee Code Annotated Section 13-7-105 requires a proposed zoning amendment to be
submitted to the regional planning commission and requires the county legislative body to conduct a
public hearing following the notice required by law; and
WHEREAS, the Tennessee Supreme Court held in Tinsley Properties, LLC v. Grundy County (Feb. 25, 2026)
that a county regulation restricting the location of a land use must be adopted in compliance with the
County Zoning Act, and these amendments are adopted as amendments to the Fayette County Zoning
Resolution for that reason; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Commissioners has adopted, by Resolution No. ______, development review
tiers, construction and stormwater standards, environmental review requirements, and enforcement
procedures in Article II and Article V, Sections 18 through 22, which apply to data centers and which
these amendments supplement; and
WHEREAS, data centers and cryptocurrency mining facilities are a distinct, large-scale industrial use whose
continuous mechanical noise, low-frequency sound, water demand, electrical load, backup
generation, construction traffic, and end-of-life abandonment risk differ in kind from warehouses,
offices, and general industry; and
WHEREAS, Fayette County is predominantly rural and agricultural, and its residents, farms, and
municipalities depend on groundwater from the Memphis Sand and associated aquifers, which the
Board of Commissioners finds to be a finite shared resource unsuited to consumptive industrial
cooling; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Commissioners finds that A-weighted sound limits alone do not control the lowfrequency hum produced by data center cooling equipment, as documented in Prince William County,
Virginia, and in Washington County, Tennessee; and
WHEREAS, Tennessee Public Chapter 961 (2026) requires data center owners and operators to bear the
cost of electrical infrastructure needed to serve them but does not displace local land-use regulation;
and
WHEREAS, the Fayette County Regional Planning Commission reviewed the proposed amendments on
____________________, 2026, and recommended ____________________; and
Resolution No. ______ | Page 1

Page 50 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

WHEREAS, the Fayette County Board of Commissioners conducted a public hearing on
____________________, 2026, after publication of notice and a complete summary of the proposed
amendments as required by Tennessee Code Annotated Section 13-7-105; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Commissioners finds that these amendments establish clear, proportional, and
enforceable standards for data center development while protecting groundwater, public
infrastructure, neighboring property, agricultural land, environmental resources, and public health,
safety, and welfare.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Fayette County Board of Commissioners, meeting in regular
session, that the Fayette County Zoning Resolution is amended as follows:

SECTION 1. ARTICLE V, NEW SECTION 23 - DATA CENTERS
Article V is amended by adding the following new Section 23 after Section 22:
Section 23. Data Centers and Cryptocurrency Mining Facilities.
23.1 Purpose. This Section confines data centers to sites zoned and approved by the Board of
Commissioners for that purpose; protects groundwater, roads, farmland, and the quiet of rural homes;
controls low-frequency and tonal noise; prevents public subsidy of private infrastructure; and assures
removal and restoration when a facility closes.
23.2 Applicability and Relationship to Other Provisions.
23.2.1 Applicability. This Section applies to every data center in the unincorporated territory of Fayette
County, including any expansion, change in cooling technology, addition of generation or battery storage,
or increase in maximum utilization capacity of an existing facility.
23.2.2 Relationship to Sections 18 through 22. A data center shall comply with Article V, Sections 18
through 22 and with every more restrictive or data-center-specific requirement of this Section. Where
this Section and another provision of this Resolution conflict, the more restrictive provision governs.
23.2.3 Relationship to State and Federal Law. This Section supplements, and does not displace, permits
issued by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation; the Tennessee Water Quality
Control Act; Tennessee Valley Authority and local power company service requirements; Public Chapter
961 (2026); and adopted building and fire codes. A State or federal permit does not establish compliance
with this Section.
23.3 Not a Public Utility. A data center, including one owned, leased, or hosted by an electric utility, power
distributor, or utility district, is not a public utility, essential service, or utility substation for any purpose
under this Resolution, and no exemption applicable to utilities applies to it.
23.4 Classification. A data center is assigned the highest class triggered by either data center floor area
or maximum utilization capacity, as defined in Article VIII.
Class

Data center floor area

Maximum utilization capacity

Accessory

Not more than 5,000 sq. ft., located within the
building of a larger principal use

Not more than 1 MW

Resolution No. ______ | Page 2

Page 51 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

Class

Data center floor area

Maximum utilization capacity

Small

Not more than 20,000 sq. ft.

Not more than 5 MW

Medium

20,001 to 100,000 sq. ft.

More than 5 MW to 20 MW

Large

100,001 to 500,000 sq. ft.

More than 20 MW to 100 MW

Campus (prohibited)

More than 500,000 sq. ft.

More than 100 MW

23.5 Zoning Classification and Review Tier.
23.5.1 Accessory Data Centers. An Accessory Data Center is permitted only as an accessory use in the
commercial and industrial districts, shall be located entirely within the building containing the principal
use, and is reviewed under the tier assigned by Section 19. Sections 23.13, 23.14(a), 23.15, and 23.18
apply to it.
23.5.2 Small, Medium, and Large Data Centers. A Small, Medium, or Large Data Center may be located
only within an SA-DC, Special Activity-Data Center District established specifically for that facility.
Establishment of the SA-DC District does not eliminate any requirement for location approval, design
approval, site-plan approval, building permit, stormwater approval, environmental review, utility
approval, or other approval required by this Resolution or applicable law.
23.5.3 Tier 4. Every Small, Medium, and Large Data Center is Tier 4 High-Impact Development under
Section 19 and shall not be reclassified to a lower review tier.
23.5.4 Campus Data Centers Prohibited. A Campus Data Center is prohibited in all districts.
23.5.5 No Entitlement. Nothing in this Section entitles any applicant to rezoning, location approval, design
approval, site-plan approval, or a permit.
23.6 Size Cap. No data center development, alone or combined with any other data center under common
ownership, control, or operation within one (1) mile, may exceed five hundred thousand (500,000) square
feet of data center floor area or one hundred (100) megawatts of maximum utilization capacity.
23.7 Anti-Segmentation. The first application shall include every building, phase, equipment yard,
generator yard, substation, and supporting improvement planned for the site. A project shall not be
divided into buildings, phases, parcels, or entities to fall within a lower class. A later approval that would
move a facility into a higher class may be granted only if every standard of the higher class is met. No
approval shall be granted that would move a facility into the Campus class.
23.8 Sequential Review Procedure.
23.8.1 Applicant-Led Community Meeting. Before filing an application for SA-DC zoning, the applicant shall
hold a public meeting in Fayette County. At least twenty-one (21) days before the meeting, the applicant
shall mail notice to every owner of record, as shown on the current Fayette County Assessor of Property
records, of each parcel located wholly or partly within one (1) mile of the exterior facility-site boundary,
or within two (2) miles if an on-site well is proposed, and shall post the site. The applicant shall present
the site plan, class, maximum utilization capacity, cooling method, water source, and noise study, and
shall file with the application a written summary of questions and responses, a certified mailing list, and

Resolution No. ______ | Page 3

Page 52 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

proof of mailing. The notice required by this Section is in addition to, and not a substitute for, the notice
required by Tennessee Code Annotated Section 13-7-105. Failure of any owner to receive mailed notice
shall not invalidate any action of the County if the applicant substantially complied with this Section.
23.8.2 Pre-Application Conference. Not less than thirty (30) nor more than one hundred twenty (120) days
before filing, the applicant shall attend a conference with the Building Commissioner, the Fayette County
Highway Department, Fayette County Emergency Management Agency, the serving fire department, the
serving electric distributor and the Tennessee Valley Authority, each water and wastewater provider, and,
for a Large Data Center, the State Fire Marshal's Office. No vested right arises from the conference.
23.8.3 SA-DC Zoning. Before location review, the property shall be classified SA-DC in accordance with
Article IV and Tennessee law. The rezoning application shall identify the entire proposed facility site.
Rezoning is a legislative act. In considering it, the Board of Commissioners shall consider the Fayette
County Growth Plan, electric transmission capacity, utility capacity letters, haul routes, groundwater
conditions, proximity to dwellings and farms, and Sections 23.9 and 23.10.
23.8.4 Facility Location Review. The Board of Appeals shall conduct a public hearing to determine whether
the location standards of Sections 23.6, 23.7, 23.9, 23.10, and 23.11 are satisfied. If the standards are not
satisfied, the Board shall deny the application. Location approval lapses two (2) years after approval unless
extended by the Board for a stated period, and does not authorize land disturbance, removal of land
cover, construction, or operation.
23.8.5 Facility Design Review. The Board of Appeals shall conduct a public hearing to determine whether
the proposed design satisfies this Section and the approved location conditions. Review at this stage shall
not reopen location approval unless there has been a material change, material misrepresentation,
unauthorized alteration of topography or land cover, or other just cause stated in writing by the Building
Commissioner. Design approval lapses two (2) years after approval unless extended by the Board for a
stated period.
23.8.6 Construction Authorization. No building permit, land-disturbance permit, or construction
authorization shall be issued before final design approval, completion of the Environmental Impact Study,
submission of financial assurance under Section 23.27, execution of the agreements required by Sections
23.14 and 23.20, and recordation under Section 23.25. No certificate of occupancy shall issue and no
operation shall begin until the Building Commissioner determines that all preoperational conditions have
been satisfied.
23.8.7 Lapse of District. If design approval is not obtained within twenty-four (24) months after SA-DC
zoning takes effect, the Regional Planning Commission shall initiate rezoning of the site to its prior
classification under Tennessee Code Annotated Section 13-7-105.
23.9 Separation Distances. Distances are measured by the shortest straight line from the exterior facilitysite boundary to the nearest boundary of the parcel or area listed, and are fixed on the date a complete
application is filed.
Separation from

Small

Medium

Large

Generating
facility

Parcel containing a sensitive receptor

1,000 ft.

1,000 ft.

2,640 ft.

2,640 ft.

Resolution No. ______ | Page 4

Page 53 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

Separation from

Small

Medium

Large

Generating
facility

Residentially zoned parcel

1,000 ft.

1,000 ft.

2,640 ft.

2,640 ft.

Another data center or utility-scale
solar facility site

1.5 miles

1.5 miles

1.5 miles

1.5 miles

Municipal corporate limits

[1,000 ft.]

[2,640 ft.]

[2,640 ft.]

[2,640 ft.]

23.9.1 Separation from Other Data Centers and Solar Facilities. The facility-site boundary shall be at least
one and one-half (1.5) miles from the nearest boundary of another existing or approved Small, Medium,
or Large Data Center or utility-scale solar photovoltaic facility. Distance shall be measured by the shortest
straight line between exterior facility-site boundaries. An approved facility is one that has received final
SA-DC or SA-Solar zoning, location approval, or special-exception approval, whether or not construction
has begun. An expansion under common project control shall be reviewed as an amendment or expansion
under Sections 23.7 and 23.24 and not as a separate facility for purposes of this subsection.
23.10 Prohibited Locations. No part of a data center, including equipment yards and generators, may be
located:
(a) within the one-hundred-year floodplain, five-hundred-year floodplain, or a designated floodway;
(b) within a designated wellhead protection area or within [one thousand (1,000)] feet of a public
water-supply well;
(c) on or within two hundred (200) feet of a sinkhole or mapped karst feature;
(d) within a scenic, conservation, or historic overlay, or within [one thousand (1,000)] feet of a
property listed on the National Register of Historic Places; or
(e) on a site of which more than twenty-five percent (25%) contains Prime Farmland soils, unless the
Board of Appeals makes written findings that no reasonable alternative site exists.
23.11 Dimensional Standards. The following standards supersede any less restrictive district standard.
Standard

Small

Medium

Large

Minimum site area (gross acres)

15

50

250

Setback from exterior facility-site boundary, all
structures and equipment

500 ft.

750 ft.

1,000 ft.

Maximum height, including rooftop equipment

50 ft.

65 ft.

65 ft.

Maximum impervious coverage

50%

50%

50%

Minimum landscaped or undisturbed area

25%

25%

25%

Undevelopable land may not exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of the area counted toward the minimum
site area. Substations, cooling equipment, generator yards, and parking shall not be located between the
principal building and a public road. Internal parcel lines within an approved facility site under unified
ownership or legally enforceable unified control are treated as provided in Section 13.4.2.
Resolution No. ______ | Page 5

Page 54 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

23.12 Application Requirements and Environmental Impact Study. Each application shall include a full
Environmental Impact Study under Section 22, which may not be waived. In addition to the components
of Section 22, the study and application shall include the following, each prepared by a qualified
professional as provided in Section 22.7:
(a) Site-plan package at a scale of 1 inch = 100 feet or larger showing all structures, setbacks,
separation distances to every sensitive receptor within one (1) mile, impervious area, grading,
stormwater facilities, erosion and sediment controls, utilities, flood-hazard areas with the FIRM
panel, all wells and water features within two thousand five hundred (2,500) feet, lighting
photometrics, screening cross-sections, haul routes with posted weight limits, phase lines, and
Prime Farmland soils to be converted.
(b) Utility capacity letters. Written confirmation from the serving electric distributor that it has
reviewed the facility, has or will have capacity, and agrees to serve it, stating the cost allocation
required by Public Chapter 961 (2026); and written confirmation from each water and sewer
provider that adequate capacity exists. No approval shall be granted if any provider declines
service or states that capacity is insufficient.
(c) Noise impact assessment by a Board Certified member of the Institute of Noise Control
Engineering or a Tennessee-licensed professional engineer with acoustical practice, including a
seven (7) day continuous ambient baseline at the nearest sensitive receptors reported in dBA,
dBC, and one-third-octave bands, day and night; an equipment inventory with manufacturer
sound-power data by octave band; modeled operating levels at every property line and at five
hundred (500) feet beyond the facility site, at full maximum utilization capacity on a 95°F day,
with all generators testing and separately with all generators running; a tonal analysis; and
mitigation shown to meet Section 23.13.
(d) Water and hydrogeology study by a Tennessee-licensed professional engineer or professional
geologist addressing total monthly demand at full build-out, source, drought vulnerability, effects
on neighboring wells and the aquifer within two (2) miles if any on-site well is proposed,
contingency supply, and wastewater and blowdown handling.
(e) Energy plan addressing projected annual consumption and peak load, ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 90.4
compliance with third-party verification before construction and after completion, the renewable
supply required by Section 23.16, and a transmission-line impact assessment identifying new or
upgraded lines and substations and their routes.
(f) Air-quality information for generators and any generating facility, including fuel, storage volume,
stack heights, dispersion modeling at every sensitive receptor, and all required State air permits
or a written State determination that none is required.
(g) Traffic study for any facility generating more than one hundred (100) peak-hour trips and, for
Medium and Large Data Centers, a construction traffic-management plan addressing hours,
routes, staging, wheel washing, daily trips, and peak workforce.
(h) Emergency response plan including a hazardous-materials inventory with safety data sheets, firesuppression design, a battery thermal-runaway and off-gassing plan, and a signed coordination
letter from the serving fire department.

Resolution No. ______ | Page 6

Page 55 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

(i) Decommissioning plan and cost estimate under Section 23.27, including recycling of all electronic
equipment through a certified R2 or e-Stewards recycler.
23.13 Noise. Sound attributable to the facility, measured at or beyond the receiving property line, shall
not exceed the following:
Receiving property

Daytime (7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.)

Nighttime (10:00 p.m. - 7:00
a.m.)

Residential or agricultural, Leq(1h)

50 dBA and [73] dBC

45 dBA and [68] dBC

Residential or agricultural, tonal sound

40 dBA

40 dBA

Commercial

65 dBA

65 dBA

Industrial

75 dBA

75 dBA

(a) Where tonal sound is present, five (5) dB shall be added to the measured level before comparison
with the limit.
(b) At night, facility sound at a residential or agricultural property line shall not exceed the preconstruction baseline established under Section 23.12(c) by more than [five (5)] dBA.
(c) Compliance testing shall be performed by an independent acoustician thirty (30) days after
operation begins, after each phase, and annually at full load in summer, with results filed with the
Building Commissioner as public records.
(d) A Large Data Center shall maintain a permanent logging sound monitor at the nearest sensitive
receptor, with data available to the County upon request.
(e) Emergency generator operation shall not exceed sixty-five (65) dBA at any residential property
line.
23.14 Cooling and Water.
(a) All cooling and ventilation shall use closed-loop cooling. Evaporative cooling, including hybrid
systems, is prohibited.
(b) Public potable water and groundwater may be used only for domestic needs, fire protection, and
the initial charge and periodic make-up of closed-loop systems, not exceeding [ten thousand
(10,000)] gallons per day site-wide on an annual-average basis, unless the Board of Appeals finds,
based on the study required by Section 23.12(d), that a greater amount will not affect any
neighboring well or public water supply.
(c) No new on-site well with a capacity greater than [fifty thousand (50,000)] gallons per day shall
serve a data center.
(d) A written drought-curtailment agreement with each water provider is required.
(e) Before a building permit is issued, the permittee shall execute a water-use monitoring and
reporting agreement with the County, with a copy to the Tennessee Department of Environment
and Conservation.

Resolution No. ______ | Page 7

Page 56 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

(f) No discharge to ground or surface water shall occur without the applicable State permit. Blowdown
and wash water shall be discharged to sanitary sewer or hauled.
(g) The facility shall cause no net increase in peak stormwater runoff for the 2-, 10-, 25-, and 100-year
storms.
23.15 Generators and Battery Storage.
(a) Emergency generators shall meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Tier 4 Final standards, be
housed in sound-attenuating enclosures, and be located at least one thousand (1,000) feet from
any residential or agricultural parcel line.
(b) Non-emergency operation for testing and maintenance is limited to ten (10) hours per month and
one hundred (100) hours per year per unit, one unit at a time, Monday through Friday between
9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., excluding federal holidays.
(c) Generators shall not be used for demand response, peak shaving, price arbitrage, or supply to the
grid.
(d) A generator testing log shall be maintained and produced upon request.
(e) Battery energy storage shall comply with NFPA 855 and the adopted fire code.
23.16 Energy. Design power usage effectiveness (PUE) shall not exceed 1.3, verified under ANSI/ASHRAE
Standard 90.4. At least fifteen percent (15%) of annual consumption shall be supplied by renewable
generation, on-site or off-site, that is additive to the Tennessee Valley Authority system. Roofs shall be
structurally capable of supporting solar equipment.
23.17 On-Site Generating Facilities. A generating facility is permitted only as part of a Large Data Center,
only upon separate approval through the procedure of Section 23.8, and only if:
(a) every generating structure is at least two thousand six hundred forty (2,640) feet from any
sensitive receptor or residentially zoned parcel;
(b) all State air permits are issued before the building permit, and dispersion modeling shows
compliance with every National Ambient Air Quality Standard at each sensitive receptor;
(c) no temporary or mobile turbine or engine operates before permits are issued; and
(d) the limits of Section 23.13 are met with the generating facility at full output.
23.18 Lighting. Exterior lighting shall use full-cutoff, downward-directed fixtures with a correlated color
temperature not exceeding 3000K. There shall be no light trespass onto any adjoining parcel or right-ofway. After 11:00 p.m., security lighting shall be motion-activated except at entrances.
23.19 Screening, Buffers, and Preservation.
(a) A vegetative buffer of native species, undisturbed or planted, at least one hundred (100) feet deep
shall be maintained inside all side and rear boundaries, together with an eight-foot (8-foot)
masonry wall or a berm of equal height.

Resolution No. ______ | Page 8

Page 57 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

(b) Mechanical equipment shall not be visible from ground level at any adjoining residential or
agricultural property line or public road, as demonstrated by at least four (4) cross-sections.
(c) Existing woods within required setbacks shall be preserved, and Sections 13.6.2 through 13.6.4
apply to required landscaping and preserved land cover as if the facility were a solar photovoltaic
facility.
(d) All on-site utility lines shall be underground except where an above-ground installation is required
by the National Electrical Safety Code, the Tennessee Valley Authority, or the serving utility.
(e) Native Plant Material. All new planting in required buffers, screening areas, landscaped areas, and
stormwater facilities shall consist of tree, shrub, grass, and forb species native to West Tennessee.
Screening buffers shall be planted in a staggered, multi-layer arrangement of canopy trees,
understory trees, and shrubs, with native evergreen species making up at least [fifty percent
(50%)] of buffer plantings to provide year-round screening. No species listed as invasive by the
Tennessee Invasive Plant Council shall be planted, and invasive species shall be controlled within
required buffers for the life of the facility. Section 13.6.2 governs plan contents, establishment,
maintenance, and replacement.
23.20 Roads, Access, and Construction.
(a) A facility shall not rely on a private easement as its sole access. A facility exceeding fifty thousand
(50,000) square feet shall provide at least two (2) separate public-road access points meeting
Section 13.4.1.
(b) Haul routes shall be approved by the Fayette County Highway Department. Before a building
permit is issued, the applicant shall execute a road-use and maintenance agreement and provide
the road-damage bond authorized by Section 20.6, in an amount set from a pre-construction
pavement survey, to restore project-attributable damage to County roads.
(c) Off-site road improvements shall be limited to the share attributable to the project under the
traffic study, consistent with the nexus and rough-proportionality standards of Nollan, Dolan, and
Sheetz v. County of El Dorado (2024).
(d) Construction hours are governed by Section 13.9.1, which applies to data center construction,
including clearing, grading, excavation, material delivery, equipment operation, pile driving,
assembly, and installation.
23.21 Fire Safety. The facility shall provide automatic fire suppression as required by the adopted fire
code, a fire-apparatus access road around all structures, State Fire Marshal plan review, and, before
occupancy, a funded training plan for the serving fire department.
23.22 Start of Operations and Annual Report.
23.22.1 Start of Operations. Within thirty (30) days after commercial operation begins, the permittee shall
notify the Building Commissioner of the start date, current IT load and maximum utilization capacity, and
initial measured PUE and water use.
23.22.2 Annual Report. By January 31 of each year, the permittee shall file with the Building Commissioner
a report, which shall be posted on the County website within thirty (30) days, stating for the prior year:
Resolution No. ______ | Page 9

Page 58 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

(a) total consumption, peak demand, maximum utilization capacity, and measured PUE;
(b) total water drawn by source, by month;
(c) renewable share and its source;
(d) generator hours by unit, fuel used, and each emergency run with its cause;
(e) all noise-test results and monitor exceedances;
(f) changes to cooling, power, fire suppression, or equipment yards;
(g) spills, permit violations, and complaints received with responses; and
(h) confirmation that financial assurance is current.
Information may be withheld only if exempt under a specific Tennessee statute, as determined by the
County Attorney. Energy, water, PUE, generator-hour, and noise data are not confidential.
23.23 Inspections. In addition to Article II, Section 1.6, upon five (5) business days' notice, or twenty-four
(24) hours' notice for a complaint investigation, the County may inspect exterior areas, equipment yards,
generators, monitoring points, stormwater facilities, and buffers. Secure server halls are excluded unless
the permittee consents. If entry is refused, the County may seek an administrative warrant.
23.24 Modifications. Any increase in floor area or maximum utilization capacity, change in cooling
technology, addition of generation or battery storage, or new equipment yard requires a new approval
under the class that results, applying the standards in effect when the application for the modification is
filed.
23.25 Recordation, Continuing Obligations, and Transfer. Sections 13.10.1 and 13.10.2 apply to every
Small, Medium, and Large Data Center. Upon transfer of ownership or operation, the new owner or
operator shall, within thirty (30) days, accept all conditions in writing and replace the financial assurance
in its own name. The prior owner's financial assurance shall remain in effect until replaced.
23.26 Enforcement. Article II, Section 2 applies to every data center. A written notice of violation shall
allow thirty (30) days for correction, except ten (10) days for a violation of Section 23.13, 23.15, or 23.18.
After notice and hearing under Article II, Section 2.4, the issuing body may suspend or revoke an approval
upon three (3) or more uncorrected violations in any twenty-four (24) month period. A consent order
establishing a compliance schedule is permitted. Appeals of administrative decisions are governed by
Article III, Section 3.
23.27 Decommissioning and Financial Assurance.
23.27.1 Abandonment. A facility that has not operated at more than ten percent (10%) of its approved
maximum utilization capacity for twelve (12) consecutive months is abandoned.
23.27.2 Removal. Within twelve (12) months after abandonment or revocation, the owner shall remove
all servers, electronic equipment, batteries, generators, fuel tanks, cooling equipment, and above-grade
structures not approved for another permitted use; recycle electronics through a certified R2 or eStewards recycler; remove foundations and pavement to three (3) feet below grade; and regrade, topsoil,
and reseed the site with native grasses and forbs.

Resolution No. ______ | Page 10

Page 59 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

23.27.3 Financial Assurance. As a condition of design approval and before any building permit is issued for
a Small, Medium, or Large Data Center, the owner shall provide an irrevocable letter of credit or surety
bond from a Tennessee-licensed institution, approved as to form by the County Attorney and naming
Fayette County as beneficiary, in an amount equal to one hundred percent (100%) of an independent
estimate of the full cost of decommissioning, disposal, site restoration, administration, and documented
contingencies, less only salvage value the Board of Appeals finds reasonably certain. The estimate shall
be prepared by a Tennessee-licensed professional engineer, may be reviewed by an independent
estimator at the applicant's expense, and shall be reviewed at least every five (5) years and adjusted for
inflation and changed conditions. The assurance shall renew automatically.
23.27.4 Solar Facilities. A solar power facility on the site that is subject to Tennessee Code Annotated
Section 66-9-207 is governed by the removal and financial-assurance provisions of that statute, and
Section 23.27.3 does not apply to it.
23.27.5 County Action. If the owner fails to decommission, the County may draw on the financial
assurance, enter and perform the work, and recover any shortfall as provided in Article II, Section 1.7 and
as otherwise permitted by law.
23.27.6 Protection in Bankruptcy and Insolvency. The following provisions apply to the financial assurance
required by Section 23.27.3 and are intended to keep the assurance outside the property of any
bankruptcy estate of the owner or operator.
(a) Acceptable Forms. Financial assurance shall be an irrevocable standby letter of credit issued by a
federally insured bank or a surety bond issued by a surety listed in U.S. Department of the
Treasury Circular 570. A parent or corporate guaranty, self-assurance, insurance policy, escrow
held by the owner, or pledge of facility assets shall not satisfy Section 23.27.3.
(b) Independence of Obligation. A letter of credit shall be governed by Tennessee Code Annotated,
Title 47, Chapter 5 and the International Standby Practices (ISP98), shall be payable on sight
against the County's draft and written certification of a draw condition, and shall not be
conditioned on the consent or performance of the owner or operator. A surety bond shall name
Fayette County as obligee and shall provide that the surety's obligation is not discharged or
suspended by the bankruptcy, insolvency, or dissolution of the principal.
(c) Draw Conditions. The County may draw the full amount of the financial assurance if (1) the issuer
gives notice of non-renewal, or the assurance is not renewed or replaced at least sixty (60) days
before it expires; (2) the owner, operator, or record landowner becomes the subject of a petition
under Title 11 of the United States Code, an assignment for the benefit of creditors, or the
appointment of a receiver; (3) the issuer or surety becomes insolvent, or its credit rating falls
below [A-] or the equivalent, and the assurance is not replaced within thirty (30) days; or (4) the
facility is abandoned or the owner fails to decommission as required by Section 23.27.2. Funds
drawn under conditions (1) through (3) shall be held by the County in a segregated account and
used solely for decommissioning and site restoration, with any balance remaining after
completion paid to the party entitled to it.
(d) Landowner Joinder. If the owner or operator of the data center does not hold fee title to the facility
site, each record owner of the fee shall join in the application as a co-applicant and shall execute

Resolution No. ______ | Page 11

Page 60 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

the recorded instrument required by Section 23.25, agreeing to be jointly and severally
responsible with the owner and operator for decommissioning and site restoration. These
obligations run with the land and bind heirs, successors, and assigns.
(e) Regulatory Obligation. Decommissioning, removal, and site-restoration obligations under this
Section are imposed under the County's police and regulatory power to protect public health,
safety, and the environment. The County may enforce them as an exercise of that power to the
fullest extent permitted by 11 U.S.C. § 362(b)(4) and other applicable law, and they are not
discharged by the abandonment of the facility in any bankruptcy or insolvency proceeding except
as required by federal law.
(f) No Release. Financial assurance shall not be released, reduced, or allowed to lapse until the
Building Commissioner certifies in writing that decommissioning and site restoration are
complete, or until replacement assurance meeting this Section has been accepted.
23.28 Additional Conditions. The Board of Appeals may impose additional conditions during location or
design review when the conditions are reasonably related to an identified impact and further the purposes
of this Resolution. A condition may not waive or reduce a mandatory standard of this Section.
23.29 Review Schedule. Section 13.12 applies to data center applications.
23.30 Periodic Review. The Regional Planning Commission shall review this Section at least every three
(3) years in light of changes in technology and the experience of other jurisdictions. Failure to conduct a
review does not affect the validity of this Section.

SECTION 2. ARTICLE V, SECTION 19.5 - TIER 4 HIGH-IMPACT DEVELOPMENT
Article V, Section 19.5 is amended by inserting the phrase "data centers and cryptocurrency mining
facilities other than Accessory Data Centers, as provided in Article V, Section 23;" immediately after the
phrase "nonaccessory battery-energy-storage systems;".

SECTION 3. ARTICLE VI - ESTABLISHMENT OF SA-DC DISTRICT
Article VI, Section 1 is amended by changing the stated number of land-use districts from fourteen (14) to
fifteen (15) and adding the following district immediately after SA-Solar, Special Activity-Solar:
SA-DC - Special Activity-Data Center

SECTION 4. ARTICLE VII - SPECIAL ACTIVITY-DATA CENTER DISTRICT
Article VII, Section 5 is amended by adding the following new Section 5.3 after Section 5.2:
5.3 SA-DC, Special Activity-Data Center District. The SA-DC District is established solely for a Small,
Medium, or Large Data Center approved for the specific district. A data center is the only principal use
permitted in an SA-DC District. Accessory substations, electrical and mechanical yards, emergency
generators, battery storage approved as part of the facility, a generating facility approved under Article
V, Section 23.17, operations and security buildings, access, stormwater facilities, open space, and buffers
may be permitted as components of the approved facility. No use or material expansion shall occur until

Resolution No. ______ | Page 12

Page 61 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

the requirements of Article V, Sections 18 through 23 have been satisfied. The boundaries of an SA-DC
District shall coincide with the entire approved facility site, and every district-specific approval is limited
to the project, class, use, scale, and conditions considered during rezoning.

SECTION 5. ARTICLE VIII - DEFINITIONS
Article VIII, Section 1 is amended by adding the following definitions after Section 1.28:
1.29 "Closed-Loop Cooling" means a cooling system that recirculates an initial charge of water or coolant
and does not use evaporation, including air-cooled dry coolers, rear-door heat exchangers, dry
economizers, and direct-to-chip and immersion cooling.
1.30 "Data Center" means a room, building, structure, container, or group of them used primarily to house
and operate computer servers, data storage, processing, or networking equipment, together with
associated cooling, power, generation, substation, battery, and security infrastructure. The term includes
colocation, enterprise, edge, hyperscale, artificial-intelligence training or inference, and blockchain or
cryptocurrency mining facilities, whether in permanent buildings or modular containers. The term
excludes a Server Room, telecommunications towers and broadband network huts, and facilities owned
and operated by the State or a political subdivision for its own governmental use.
1.31 "Data Center Floor Area" means all floor area of every building in a data center development plus
the footprint of all exterior equipment within the facility site, including substations, electrical and
mechanical yards, generator yards, battery enclosures, cooling equipment, and container pads.
1.32 "dBA" and "dBC" mean sound pressure levels, A-weighted and C-weighted respectively, measured
under ANSI S1.4 with a Type 1 meter.
1.33 "Emergency," for purposes of Article V, Section 23, means an unplanned loss of utility power to the
site, or a written curtailment request from the Tennessee Valley Authority or the serving electric
distributor. Price-based demand response is not an emergency.
1.34 "Evaporative Cooling" means a cooling tower, adiabatic cooler, or spray system that consumes water
by evaporation, including a hybrid system that uses evaporation in some conditions.
1.35 "Generating Facility" means electric generation other than emergency standby generators, including
turbines, reciprocating engines, fuel cells exceeding two (2) megawatts, and battery systems used for peak
shaving or market participation.
1.36 "Leq(1h)" means the equivalent continuous sound level over one (1) hour.
1.37 "Maximum Utilization Capacity" means the greatest of (1) the electric demand requested from or
approved by the electric provider; (2) the total designed IT load; (3) the maximum load shown on any
electrical, mechanical, substation, generator, or building plan; (4) the load the installed or proposed
transformers, switchgear, generators, substations, or batteries can serve; or (5) any load stated in an
application, utility request, lease, financing document, marketing material, or public filing.
1.38 "Prime Farmland" means land so mapped in the current USDA Natural Resources Conservation
Service soil survey for Fayette County.

Resolution No. ______ | Page 13

Page 62 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

1.39 "Sensitive Receptor" means a dwelling (existing or permitted), school, licensed child-care facility,
religious institution, hospital, nursing home, public park, campground, cemetery, or property listed on the
National Register of Historic Places.
1.40 "Server Room" means a room of less than five hundred (500) square feet within a building that serves
the principal use of that building and relies on that building's own HVAC and electrical service.
1.41 "Tonal Sound" means sound with a one-third-octave band that exceeds both adjacent bands by the
prominence criteria of ANSI S12.9 Part 4, Annex C.
1.42 "Undevelopable Land" means floodway, FEMA flood zones A, AE, and AO, wetlands, sinkholes and
karst features, existing easements, and slopes exceeding fifteen percent (15%).

SECTION 6. APPENDIX A - DATA CENTER REVIEW FEES
Appendix A, Section 7 is amended by adding, after the phrase "decommissioning or closure-plan review",
the phrase "; acoustical, hydrogeological, electrical, and air-quality review of data center applications;
review of data center annual reports; and noise-monitor data review".

SECTION 7. SEVERABILITY
Article XI, Section 2 applies to this Resolution. Without limiting that Section, the Board of Commissioners
declares that the size cap of Article V, Section 23.6, the separation distances of Section 23.9, the cooling
and water standards of Section 23.14, the generator standards of Section 23.15, the energy standards of
Section 23.16, and the noise standards of Section 23.13 are each independently severable.

SECTION 8. CODIFICATION AND CONFLICTING PROVISIONS
The Building Commissioner or codifier is directed to update the Table of Contents, page references,
internal cross-references, and numbering necessary to incorporate this Resolution, without changing
substantive meaning, consistent with Article II, Section 4. All resolutions or portions of resolutions in
conflict with this Resolution are repealed to the extent of the conflict. Under Article XI, Section 1, the most
restrictive applicable provision governs unless this Resolution expressly states otherwise.

SECTION 9. EFFECTIVE DATE AND PENDING APPLICATIONS
This Resolution shall take effect on the day following its adoption, the public welfare requiring it, and
applies to applications filed on or after that date. Consistent with Tennessee Code Annotated Section 2943-101, an application filed before the effective date shall be judged under the law in effect when it was
filed.

Resolution No. ______ | Page 14

Page 63 of 64

FAYETTE COUNTY, TENNESSEE | ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT

ADOPTED this ______ day of ____________________, 2026.
FAYETTE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
____________________________________
Chair, Fayette County Board of Commissioners
ATTEST:
____________________________________
Fayette County Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
____________________________________
Fayette County Attorney
REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION:
Data center amendments recommended for ____________________ on ____________________, 2026.

Resolution No. ______ | Page 15

Page 64 of 64