Responding to a lawsuit challenging the county government’s ability to impose regulations on a data center proposed to be built in the city of Franklin, the Simpson County Fiscal Court has responded that its recently passed ordinance concerning data centers should remain in effect.

TenKey Landco I LLC, the owner of land in the south end of Franklin near Interstate 65, has applied to build a large data center facility on its property, an estimated $1.6 billion investment to build three 200,000-square-foot facilities over a three-year period on a 200-acre plot of land.

The proposal became publicly known late last year and has generated boisterous community opposition, and the developers have been unable twice to receive approval from the Franklin Planning and Zoning Commission for a preliminary development plan.

Two plan review hearings in a two-month span have resulted in a majority of city planning and zoning board members voting to table the development plan.

Amid that backdrop, the fiscal court in December passed an ordinance that would require technology data storage centers and integrated energy system facilities to obtain a conditional use permit in order to operate anywhere within Simpson County.

A conditional use permit is a tool by which local governments can regulate certain ways in which land is developed; for instance a data center wanting to locate in an area where zoning regulations do not permit such a use would have to obtain a conditional use permit that sets out a number of conditions under which the center is allowed to operate.

TenKey representatives, believing that their proposed data center is situated on land permitted for the enterprise, sued the fiscal court last month in Simpson Circuit Court, with attorney Gregory Dutton asserting that the county is unlawfully attempting to control a project situated entirely within Franklin’s city limits.

The data center developers have asked for the county ordinance to be invalidated, while the fiscal court, represented in this matter by attorney Aaron Smith, countered in a response filed Feb. 16 that the ordinance should remain on the books.

The response seeks a judgment from the circuit court that TenKey is subject to ordinances and zoning regulations set by the fiscal court, that the county government “remains statutorily authorized to enact ordinances…regulating the use of land within its political boundaries” and that those ordinances are legally binding within Franklin city limits.

Smith also alleges that TenKey lacks legal standing to bring a lawsuit against the fiscal court, claiming that the data center developers have “not suffered an injury to a legally protected interest that is fairly traceable to” the fiscal court’s conduct and has failed to allege any such wrongdoing.

In a separate filing, Smith has requested all proceedings on the lawsuit to be paused to allow the Simpson County Planning and Zoning Commission consider an amendment to county zoning regulations that would include data centers as conditional uses in areas within the county with a Heavy Industrial zoning designation.

According to court records, the fiscal court voted at its Feb. 3 meeting to submit the proposed zoning amendment to the county planning and zoning commission.

County planning and zoning members would consider the amendment at a date to be determined and make its recommendation to approve or deny the amendment to the fiscal court, which would subsequently vote on the board’s recommendation.

Smith, in his motion to stay the lawsuit, argued for that process to play out between fiscal court and county planning and zoning, saying that the county’s zoning regulations apply to all property within both Franklin and unincorporated parts of the county.

“Regardless of the enforceability of the ordinance, if the fiscal court approves the proposed amendment, (TenKey) will be subject to the amended zoning regulations imposing the exact same limitations on advanced technology centers and integrated energy systems, rendering its complaint moot,” Smith said in his filing.