County meeting on data centers

The proposed data center in McMinnville falls under the jurisdiction of city government.

As explained yesterday by County Executive Terry Bell, county government is not part of this process.

But what happens if a mega-sized data center wants to locate in Warren County outside McMinnville city limits? There are no restrictions in place.

The county’s Economic and Agriculture Committee will meet tonight at 5 p.m. to consider possible guidelines that could be put in place pertaining to data centers.

The Warren County Commission tried to address a similar issue last year with the Powers Act, which would have restricted rock quarries, rock crushing and mining.

However, the measure was rejected by the full Warren County Commission.

County government has long resisted any type of zoning. This allows property owners to do what they want with their land, but it can also create headaches when 10 chicken houses locate next to a neighborhood.

Bell says county zoning and the Powers Act will not be brought up in tonight’s meeting, but county officials will be looking to see if they can go “a different direction” to enact some type of regulations.

Tonight’s meeting will be held at 5 p.m. at the Warren County Administrative Offices on Locust Street.