Smithville TN 18-month data center moratorium (2026)

Smithville, Tenn. (DeKalb County) — 18-MONTH MORATORIUM ORDINANCE given FINAL approval and NOW IN EFFECT, 'prohibiting data centers in the City of Smithville for AT LEAST 18 MONTHS'. TWO NOTABLE FEATURES. (1) FULLY ENACTED: unlike much of the unwritten queue, this measure is reported as having received its final reading and taken effect, so status `effective` rests on the source rather than on inference. (2) 'AT LEAST 18 MONTHS' IS A FLOOR, NOT A FIXED TERM — the same construction recorded at Newport NC data center moratorium (2026) ('will remain in place for at least one year'). Floor language is unusual and analytically awkward: most moratorium ordinances state a definite expiry, and several statutory frameworks require one (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160D-107 requires written findings stating a DEFINITE duration for moratoria over 60 days; 30-A M.R.S. § 4356 fixes 180-day renewable periods). AS AT NEWPORT, THE LIKELIEST EXPLANATION IS THAT THE ORDINANCE STATES A FIXED TERM THE REPORTING HAS PARAPHRASED, but that is inference. expires_date 2028-03-01 IS COMPUTED from a placeholder start and treats the floor as the term; it is doubly unreliable. DURATION CONTEXT: 18 months places Smithville with Sauk County WI 18-month data center moratorium (2026) and Cary NC 18-month data center moratorium (2026) at the upper end of the common range, below Lawrence County IL two-year data center moratorium (2026) (two years), Hurlock MD three-year data center moratorium (2026) (three) and Independence County AR five-year data center moratorium (2026) (five). TENNESSEE CONTEXT: Gallatin TN 60-day data center application pause (2026) (Gallatin hosts a Meta campus and is weighing a further moratorium); Memphis, where xAI's presence prompted a moratorium proposal repeatedly delayed, most recently to October 6; TN HB 1847 data center ratepayer protection (2026). NOT ESTABLISHED: the vote, the exact date, the ordinance number, the operative scope, and any threshold.