Call it the battle of the gigawatts versus giraffes. And tigers, monkeys, rhinos and zebras.
Data center developer DC Blox is seeking approval to construct a 69,220-square-foot facility next to the Nashville Zoo. But Nashville, Tennessee, Mayor Freddie O’Connell, responding to community opposition, filed legislation to condemn the site in an effort to block construction.
It’s one of many faceoffs in the U.S. and Canada between data center developers and communities that say they want to protect their peace and quiet. Some local and state governments have assented to residents’ demands by banning new data centers, with Seattle, Denver, Minneapolis and Reno, Nevada, among the latest to join the fray.
Data center developers usually square off with residential neighborhoods, but in Nashville, it’s a public amenity that stands in the way of commercial development. The Nashville Zoo issued a statement saying a data center would "contribute to noise pollution, light pollution and threaten water quality in surrounding communities."
It added that "constant noise from cooling systems and generators and light pollution from bright security and operational lighting can dramatically affect animal behavior, disrupting their natural photo periods and rhythms."
In addition to the mayor’s attempt to use eminent domain, two members of the Nashville city council have introduced legislation to block data centers. A public hearing on a proposal by Rollin Horton, member of the Metropolitan Council of Nashville-Davidson County, to ban the largest data centers is scheduled for July 7.
O’Connell's office didn't respond to requests for comment and questions about when the full Nashville-Davidson County council will vote on his condemnation proposal. Atlanta-based DC Blox declined to comment when reached by email.
The DC Blox proposal requires the demolition of two office buildings on Grassmere Park Drive to make way for the industrial property. The property owner, Nashville-based Market Street Enterprises, obtained approval to rezone the area from office to industrial. But the Nashville Zoo on June 9 filed an appeal of the zoning change.
"While the zoo board is not necessarily opposed to data centers in general, we do believe that neighborhoods, schools and, in this case, a zoo, should be off limits," Butch Spyridon, board chairman of the Nashville Zoo, said in an emailed statement. "We are committed to opposing this location for as long as it takes."
College seeks data center
The zoo isn’t the only site of a proposed data center in Nashville that has stirred community opposition.
Fisk University has proposed construction of a 100,000-square-foot data center on its 40-acre campus in north Nashville. The data center is part of a $400 million upgrade of the entire campus of Fisk, a member of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Proponents say the data center would have an academic component, help Fisk upgrade its technology infrastructure and could be leased to third-party tenants to generate revenue for the college.
Some nearby residents and Fisk alumni are trying to block the data center, according to WPLN radio.
Fisk officials stressed during a recent public meeting that, unlike data centers that Elon Musk operates in Memphis, Tennessee, the Fisk data center will use only environmentally friendly sources of power. Musk and his company, xAI, have been sued by the NAACP for using natural gas turbines at its Memphis data centers without permits and been accused of having the turbines contribute to air pollution. XAI has said that it has obtained all required permits.
Agenia Clark, president of Fisk, said the university is taking every step to prevent noise, air and water pollution and that the facility will use only sustainable energy sources.
"We will have no interest in bringing in methane gas, fuel turbine engines … period," Clark said during a recent public meeting about the data center, according to WKRN-TV.