At a Monday hearing on data centers, Jackson City Council members made it clear from the start that they were not passing any data center ordinances that night, but regulations are coming. A proposed six-month moratorium has been tabled, but no data centers will move forward until regulations are in place.
“The city is working on a regulatory structure to govern data centers in the city. No data center will be approved until the city finalizes those regulations,” said City Council President Brian Grizzell.
Grizzell said that council members are drafting proposed regulations and when those are ready they will hold additional public hearings. He said that the earliest a public hearing would take place is late July.
Over 80 people showed up for the Monday hearing, only half were able to squeeze into the council chambers. The rest stood outside in the foyer. Over 20 people spoke before the council, overwhelmingly in favor of regulations or outright opposed to a potential data center, especially a proposed project in northwest Jackson.
New Jersey-based developer, Saxum Investments, has applied to rezone 230 acres of mostly undeveloped residential and commercial land to industrial use in order to attract a data center to the city. The planning board hearing for rezoning of the property will not take place until city regulations are passed.
“I can stand at my front door and look at, if this zoning is passed, and see the top of the data center. Council, ladies and gents, we don’t want that center built in our area,” said Thomas Cheddum Jr. who lives in Ashley Acres, a neighborhood close to the site.
At the top of residents’ concerns are the impact of data centers on the environment and utilities, especially water. Multiple residents said they already have water and power issues and worry that a data center might worsen those problems.
“Jackson has already lived through a water crisis. Our community deserves to know what this means for our water supply before 230 acres of trees and land are cleared”, said Erin Shirely Orey.
Robert Ireland, an attorney with Watkins and Eager representing Saxum, said at the hearing that the city has an “opportunity” to adopt amendments such as requiring data centers to minimize noise and prove that they are not driving up utility costs..
“Jackson is not forced to choose between development and the health and welfare of its citizens,” said Ireland.
Jackson is one of a growing number of Mississippi cities to consider data center regulations. Clinton and Ridgeland recently passed requirements for data centers, such as how far a center can be from a residential area.
Within the Jackson Metropolitan Area, there are four large-scale data centers being built and a total of seven statewide. Local leaders and economic development professionals have said that these projects will generate billions of dollars in investment, bring in millions in taxes for schools and create jobs. But multiple speakers at Monday’s hearing questioned whether a large investment from a data center was worth the potential downside.
“I know that it’s bringing plenty of money, but money is not always good,” said Wade Brown, the president of Presidential Hills’ Neighborhood Association in northwest Jackson.
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