There were several items on the Memphis City Council agenda this week, but the one that drew a crowd of over 200 to the chamber was the third reading of an ordinance to place a moratorium on data centers in the city. You can read the proposed ordinance here, beginning on page 87. It is long and includes several stipulations beyond the moratorium. The intent, according to the sponsors of the ordinance, is to place a 12-month hold on new data center construction while city leaders determine guardrails to ensure clean air and water, as well as utility efficacy—something that local critics of SpaceXAI say should have been done before any data center permits were granted.
The council meeting was cut short due to persistent disruptions after seven of the twelve present members of the council voted to delay the third reading until the next meeting—a decision that angered the majority of attendees and led to very loud jabs exchanged between protestors and some council members. Some physical jabs were thrown outside the meeting room, but it’s unclear if they were related to the matter at hand.
Attorney Allan Wade, who represents the council, suggested that instead of a moratorium, the elected body consider regulations akin to special use permits, wherein they consider each data center and its location, potential tax revenue, and effect on the surrounding community individually. This, of course, would take time, while another (non-SpaceXAI) data center has already filed a construction permit in Memphis.
Meanwhile, recently-elected Shelby County Assessor Javier Bailey announced that he is pursuing statewide legislation permitting county assessors to tax data centers differently than other commercial property. This could potentially generate more tax revenue for Memphis, even as its human tax base has dwindled over the last few years. The Shelby County Commission is also considering its own moratorium on data centers in unincorporated areas of Shelby County.
Read our previous analysis of data centers in Memphis here.
