Data Center Moratorium, Downtown Partnership Sued, and Another Airport Fight

Today on CityCast Nashville, it's time for our Friday News Roundup. This week, an emergency bill was introduced to push for a possible data center moratorium. Metro files yet another lawsuit against the state pertaining to the airport authority takeover, and Metro's insurer is suing the downtown partnership for negligence. Plus, we've got some good news and our members-only segment called Hellnaw, where this week we gripe about the proposed ordinance to ban food trucks in Goodlettsville and our hatred for golf carts on Nashville streets. It's Friday, June 12th. I'm Marie Sisal Anderson, and this is what Nashville's talking about.

Real quick, before we get started, right after we taped this episode, a little bird sent us a copy of the changes in Metro Council's substitute budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The highlights appear to be $300,000 for the Nashville Office of Entertainment, an additional million dollars to the Barnes Fund, and an additional $2.1 million to the eviction right to council program. There's also more funding for the OASIS Center, NASA, the Red Frogs, and an additional social worker at General Sessions Court. We'll have more on this next week. And now on with the show. Executive producer Whitney, Pastorick, Happy Friday, and contributor Nicole Williams to you as well. Happy Friday. It's Bonaroo. Very excited. Great weekend in Nashville. It's going to be hot. If you're listening to this, you made it through another week. You did it. Right this second, there are close to 400,000 people who have signed a petition against the proposed data center near the Nashville Zoo. And this week, an emergency bill was filed by council member Courtney Mike Johnston that would pause or temporarily ban the development of new data centers. Upon first reading of Mike Johnston's bill on Tuesday night, Metro Council voted 26 yes. And one no. So who was the no and why? The one council member who voted against the moratorium was council member at large Deletia Porterfield. WSM reported that she cited concerns of legal issues. broad definitions of data centers and how there's already a similar bill up in her decision to vote no. And in that last thing, she's referring to Rollin Horton's bill that passed the previous council meeting, which would establish regulations on data centers in and around Nashville. You can tune in Monday, by the way, to hear more from him. He's our episode on Monday, and he's going into his bill and why he thinks it's important. And, you know, this is something that Rollin said when we talk to him, this bill, council member Johnson's bill, could create a... legal challenge problem. Down in Hill County, Texas, for example, there was a moratorium that was recently rescinded because they got sued for $100 million by the developer of a data center. I think it's frustrating. And Nicole, I'd be curious to hear your take on this, that Porterfield is the one getting all the flack about this. When I know plenty of other council members share her perspective on the dangers of council member Mike Johnston's bill, you know, this passed on first reading, but that's kind of just a formality. When it comes up on second reading is going to be the time for a lot more discussion, including a public hearing. This is very... complex and nuanced. So we're going to try to like distill it down. Mike Johnston's bill is being marketed as a way to address all data centers. And I think people are under the false impression that it would stop.

the progress of the data center by the zoo. But in Tennessee, we have very strict state laws around vesting, which basically means if you've already started the process of development, if you've pulled a permit, if you've submitted plans and had those plans approved, you can't be retroactively stopped by new legislation. Mike Johnston's legislation also has to go through three readings. So it's kind of odd that it's tracking with Council Member Horton's bill because I think we've seen in other municipalities that the value of a moratorium is to allow policymakers time to write regulations. We're not seeing permanent bans on data centers, really. What we're seeing are these time-limited bans, which is what Mike Johnston's bill would be. It would be a 90-day... ban, it would also become mooted once Councilmember Horton's bill is passed. Like it's written in the bill once we have regulations, the moratorium ends. And these bills are essentially tracking together. In fact, Mike Johnston's bill is like a meeting behind Horton's bill. So we've already got regulations that are written and are in progress. So the timing of a moratorium just, it doesn't make much sense in this context. But it sounds good to the people on social media who are extremely upset about the zoo. I've called it political theater because it's like political theater at its finest. This is like the epitome of political theater. To make people think you're doing something when in reality what you're doing isn't addressing what they're outraged about. But Nicole, you also mentioned that council member Mike Johnston is doing something with the board of zoning appeals that you think is potentially more productive? Essentially, right now, in our zoning code, we don't have a land use of data center. So when the zoning administrator has to decide whether to issue permits, he has to classify different developments within an existing land use. So what he has decided is that a data center use, like a huge data center, like the one planned by the zoo, qualifies as an office. Seems crazy to me. A couple people could work there at an office? Right, right. So Councilmember Johnson is challenging his determination. So what that means is she will go before the Board of Zoning Appeals. And she will be saying, actually, I think this use falls under telecommunications, which is much more highly regulated. And there are a lot of conditions that... go into play when you're dealing with the telecommunications use. This would actually affect the data center at the zoo because if the board of zoning appeal says, sorry, zoning administrator, you were wrong. It's not an office use. Then the developer has to sort of go back to the drawing board and meet all these additional conditions. And in that time period where they're meeting all these additional conditions, we may have a bill passed that gives us a data center use, which would... provide even more restrictions. Are we happy that this is happening at this moment since we've never had this kind of legislation before regulating data centers? Are we at least happy that maybe our council members are maybe not working together at the moment, but at least bringing light to this?

I mean, I don't know that we need the council to bring light to this. Everyone knows what's going on. I think what we need is the council to work together on robust regulations and spending time trying to fiddle with the language of a moratorium that is, to be honest, not very well drafted and overly broad and somewhat vague. It's sort of a waste of time in my mind. I would encourage council members to spend their limited time and energy on... making Councilmember Horton's bill as good as it can be. Meanwhile, the North Nashville community continues to push back against the data center proposed at FISC University. At a press conference on Wednesday, FISC alumni, including Representative Justin Jay Jones, spoke out against the harm that the center could potentially cause in the neighborhood. Local NAACP chapter president Timothy Hughes specifically asked FISC to be more transparent about the project. Whitney, Nicole, what's your take here? I think this one is far more sticky than the zoo. I mean, it still makes me mad, but I think that that's because we need maybe different language around data centers to describe. different kinds of data centers. I mean, FISC is not talking about building XAI, right? The big Elon Musk buzzing thing down in Memphis. They're talking about building like a lead certified 30 gigawatt. I don't know how we measure these things. Like it's a smaller thing. And they're also saying that the purpose behind it is to give their students an advantage in what everyone is telling us is going to be an AI-driven future. So I'm going to have to disagree with you there. Whitney, I don't find it very sticky. I think it's like pretty clear cut. The community doesn't want this. You've got students speaking out against this. I don't know why you need a data center on campus in order to teach students about AI. Like they're doing that at universities all over the country. I think they're saying it's the infrastructure so they can like learn how to plug things in. I don't know how it works. Well, and I think that's an issue that there has been a lack of transparency from FISC. And if we're going to be outraged about a data center by the zoo because it affects animals, we need to be equally outraged, if not more so, about a data center in a historically marginalized community that raises huge environmental justice concerns. where the community is speaking out about it. Like Brad Paisley isn't signing a petition to stop the Fisk Data Center, but he sure cares about those animals. Where is the outrage for black and brown communities who are being disproportionately negatively affected by the environmental impacts of data centers? Well, from one Nashville headache to another downtown, believe it or not, is still dealing with the aftermath of the library garage fire.

Hey, happy one-year anniversary to the library garage fire, everybody. For those who celebrate. For those who celebrate. That's right. Now, Metro's insurance company Travelers has filed a lawsuit against Nashville Downtown Partnership and Block by Block, which is a private contractor that provides clean and safe services for downtown districts across the country. So Travelers is suing them. Claiming negligence caused the library garage fire and claiming $10 million in damages. So, Whitney, what do we know about the alleged negligence? It's so funny, Marie, because it's kind of the same stuff people have been saying the whole time in Nashville Downtown Partnership has been like, no, no, no, we don't know. I mean, that's not true. So the filing alleges that Nashville Downtown Partnership and block by block stored combustible materials in an impermissible storage yard constructed in the garage. Clean and safe. Clean and safe. Clean and safe. Travelers alleges that the entities were negligent by changing the use of the least problem. from a parking garage to a storage yard for things like propane tanks, allowing its employees to smoke in the property near the allegedly combustible materials and improperly storing combustible hazardous and flammable materials in the property. That's kind of what we all knew. We saw the photos, right, from up and there. of propane tanks that had blown up. And Tom Turner said, don't believe you're lying eyes. Don't believe you're lying eyes. Council member, Sean Parker, the council's representative on the Traffic and Parking Commission, told the banner about the library, quote, it's been closed far too long. I hope this lawsuit is a step toward reopening. And Marie, we did get some alleged news about that this week. That's right. The downtown library garage might be partially open. Someday. Someday. Hopefully this year. An end dot spokesperson told the post that the lower three levels of the parking garage. could reopen later this year, though no specific timeline was given. You guys can't see Marie, but she's wagging a finger in the air like an old-timey salesperson. Like, hey, check out this monorail. Nicole, do we think that this lawsuit is going to have any impact on the next vote on the Nashville Downtown Partnerships budget, which needs to come back before counsel and barely was rejected at the last meeting?

Of course it's not because we don't have a council that's interested in accountability for our quote unquote alleged partner downtown. They're going to bring back the same exact budget, which council member Jacob Coopin already told us, which is really a slap in the face. But they know that they'll have the votes at the next meeting because there will be more council members there who don't care about. holding our downtown partner accountable for their negligence and their inability to follow the requirements of their founding documents. I can tell you the one thing that's happening with me is. I don't really like going downtown. I don't want to go downtown even more right now because I don't want any of my tax dollars that they charge me on my drinks and food to go to the Nashville Downtown Partnership. Oh, but I thought this was just a like property owners opted into this. So we have to do whatever the property owners say, even though the Nashville Downtown Partnership doesn't really survey the people who live downtown. Oh, I thought that's why my drinks were more expensive down there is because the downtown partnership needed my money so that they could keep it clean and safe. Yeah, they like to conveniently leave that out when they talk about how this is a voluntary contribution. Well, I will not be volunteering to contribute. There you go.

Mayor O'Connell has directed Metro Legal to file another lawsuit against the state of Tennessee because they're trying to take over the airport again. Whitney, what the heck is going on? Well, folks might remember that back in 2023, the state passed legislation taking over the airport board, but Nashville sued and won twice thanks to... Home rule, that handy-dandy law that says the state can't pass legislation that only applies to one place. So that case, the 2023 case, is sitting around at the Tennessee Supreme Court somewhere, probably next to the council size reduction law. They'll reemerge like a cicada eventually. But this year, the state once again passed legislation taking over our airport, but they fixed the whole home rule thing by taking over the airports in Memphis, Chattanooga, Knoxville, and tries. cities too. And P.S., I think that they're welcome to have Tri-Cities right now, given that a giant sinkhole has opened under the runways there. Please, the state. Take care of that, would you? Well, Metro believes the state is violating a 2024 federal law, according to the Tennessee lookout. The 2024 Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act prevents states from taking over airport authorities in situations where the board objects. And this week, the airport board did indeed sign onto the lawsuit. Nicole, where do you see this going? It's hard to say. I do think it's interesting that the airport board is now in favor of suing the state because with the previous law, they were not. They were not interested in suing the state. They were fine being taken over. That might have something to do with the changing composition of the airport board, or perhaps Mayor O'Connell is flexing his... muscle, who knows where this is going to go. I think ultimately the state will find a way to do what they want to do, but they might have a few unsuccessful tries on the way there. But why does the state even want control over the airport? I mean, they're already getting everything they want out of it. The Super Bowl's coming. There's a massive expansion going on. By the way, folks at home, lot A is closing next month so they can build another parking garage, so don't plan to park there, along with the central. core being closed. They're building the freaking tunnel. Like, is this just about money? Is this just about tax dollars? I mean, I read a economic impact report from the airport authority back in February, and BNA contributes to $2.1 billion in total taxes, which includes $1.13 billion in federal, $631 million in state. only $339 million in local taxes. So does the state just like want all of that now? I see it as like a land grab and a power grab. Like the airport owns a lot of land. They have a lot of power. And the state is not interested in allowing Nashville to control what happens in Nashville. They're just not. And they're looking for any way to sort of creep into...

local control, which they preach all the time, by the way. Supermajority loves to preach about local control, except when it comes to Nashville and Memphis. I think what they mean by local control is local control is when they control you locally. You're probably right. I've just been misunderstanding it this whole time. The other big story out of state Republicans this week is the news that now that they've redistricted our congressional seats, they are reportedly considering gerrymandering our state Senate and House districts too. According to the Tennessean, a spokesperson for Tennessee Senate Republicans said lawmakers are likely to consider legislation related to redrawing the district's next legislative session. And again, I ask, why? Don't they have enough? When is enough enough? Like, is it going to be enough when there are no Democrats in the state house? Like, is that going to be enough? Best I can figure is this has to be more punishment for the Democratic legislators who protested during the redistricting special session. For example, Senator Charlene Oliver, whose district here in Nashville is a majority minority district. And I could absolutely see them being like, the Supreme Court says you can't have that anymore. So it's gone now. I think it's less about punishment and more about power. I think no matter how the Democrats had acted during that special session, we would see this kind of thing happening. They don't have any respect for Democrats. in the state legislature. They don't have any respect for Democrats in their communities. And they have no interest in sharing power in any meaningful way. They don't want to be questioned on their actions. And the best way not to be questioned is to kick all of your opponents out of office. Just so folks at home have these numbers fresh in hand in case they need them over the weekend, Republicans currently hold 75 of 99 seats in the House. That's 76%. Not enough. They hold 27 of 33 seats in the Senate or 82%. Not enough. It's so funny, Nicole, that you say no matter whether the Democrats had protested or not, the state's going to punish everybody anyway. Have we talked about this on the show before? At what point do we realize we should just live our lives the way we want to? I've been having that conversation with some council members about the data center legislation, council members who have been concerned about state preemption. The state is going to do what the state wants to do, and we really can't act in fear of what they may do because they're going to find a way to screw us. But we do it every time anyway. Yeah, yeah. We are Charlie Brown. One day we'll get the football. We will never kick that football. Maybe in 2030 when the Super Bowl comes.

What time is it? Duna, da, da, good news. Yay, there's lots of good news, despite everything that listeners just went through to get here. This week, Nashville welcomed Japan men's national soccer team. We didn't even put the sport in the prep dock and Marie picked up on what the sport was all by herself. She's crying. Hey, I am getting into sports. Taylor Swift just attended a sports thing this week. So that was exciting to watch it. I think Taylor Swift might have saved the Knicks. It was that or Wu-Tang. Might have been Wu-Tang. But I also very much enjoyed watching this past Monday. There was a community day at Geotis. to sort of welcome the soccer team, the Japanese soccer team. And it just looked so merry and happy. I enjoyed cheering from my phone. Yeah. So folks, the Japanese national team is going to be here throughout their World Cup run. Their first game is against the Netherlands this Sunday. And, you know, if you're feeling kind of meh about the U.S. men's national team, there's a great alternative. We could all root for Japan this year. The World Cup, it kicked off yesterday. It's happening forever. If you want to watch the World Cup with other people, we've got a couple watch party suggestions for you on our website at nashville.citycast.fm, places where you can hang out with other fans and watch all the games. My suggestion, frankly, just go to Plaza Mariachi. Literally just move your computer and your desk to Plaza Mariachi. They have all of the foods. They'll have all of the joy. They'll have all of the cheering and they'll have all of the games. Other things happening right now, as I mentioned, Bonaroo. It's also already going. We are watching the skies closely. And then the last thing I want to talk about, it's just all about what things that Whitney likes. Tomorrow night, you guys already know this. It's my favorite event of the year, the international night market at Geotis this year. So you will be in the World Cup spirit at the soccer stadium, eating food from all around the world from restaurants. right here in Nashville. And keep an eye on our newsletter next week because I wrote a very cool speaking for myself article about where you can dine in the city at authentic restaurants for all the countries that qualified for the World Cup. We don't have them all, but we have a decent amount. So keep an eye out for that article. I'm really proud of it. Pretty cool. Nicole, have you always wanted to party like a librarian?

Yes. Yes. I get the sense that Nicole kind of does party like a librarian. Right. Well, bring it on down to the main library downtown tomorrow because they are having their 25th anniversary and celebrating also their recent reopening. They're going to party like a librarian. That's their theme. which I think is amazing. It's all day during their opening hours from 9 to 5 p.m. They also have a library 101 tour at 1.30 p.m. that you can register for. I don't know. I think that's pretty neat. Happy one year anniversary library garage fire. So will they be having a silent disco? Because that seems very appropriate. I should have been in the planning for this event. You truly should have been. Oh, that would have been fun. If you want Nicole to be involved in any future library planning, please Nashville at citycast.fm. Nicole, do you have a cardigan that you could wear to that? Absolutely. Multiple, multiple cardigans. We're kicking off Juneteenth a little bit early this weekend. The Equity Alliance is hosting their annual Black on the Canaan Black Party. You can find tickets on the Equity Alliance website. That's always a good time. And then, Marie, one of our contributors is involved in something else that's happening tomorrow. That's right. Shout out to Amelia Edelman. She's been helping organize this incredible event that's taking place at American Legion post 82 on Gallatin. Starting at 3 o'clock tomorrow, Neighbor Fest by East Nashville Care Market. Lots of really fun local musicians, chefs, restaurants, and live music. Come out, support your community. You're going to see a lot of your neighbors there. That's the main goal. And then it all helps to. go towards supporting East Nashville Care Market. Real quick, before we move towards the end of the show, folks, Nashville Humane Society urgently needs pet food donations, dog cat, puppy, and kitten food for their pet food bank. You can bring your donations straight to the shelter located at 213, Osceola Avenue behind the Kroger over there. And, you know, hey, stop by K&S on your way home. It's a great little day trip. There's also an online wish list where you can buy the pet food and have it shipped directly. Too humane. Obviously, both Marie and I, huge fans of Nashville Humane, our dogs were rescued from there. I think a lot of people are struggling. So please, if you have the means to do so, throw them some food so that they can help people keep their pets in their homes. I saw a baby on the bus the other day. Tell us more. Well, the baby was adorable. I was playing peekaboo with the baby. Oh. The baby was smiling and giggling. It was really a highlight. So, you know, ride the bus. You might see a really cute baby. Did you say you have a baby on a bus?

I certainly did not. Nobody else get that sweet home Alabama. I'm the only one who saw that movie. Oh my gosh. I just watched that recently. I've seen that. You have a baby at the bar. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks. I feel better now. Oh, I need to rewatch that. I just rode the bus for the first time last Sunday and got a tattoo to commemorate it. So I have the number 56 on my arm now. But I had a blast. It was with all my friends. Everyone was really proud of me that I finally got on the bus. I had to defend the fact that I hadn't yet been on the bus. But it really was fast and fun and easy. The 56 is a wonderful bus. That's where I saw the baby. Get on the 56 people. All right. Well, now it is time. We just got through good news. And, you know, that means now it is time for our exclusive membership segment called Hellnaw, where we just go off on things. happening in our city, but you cannot listen unless you are a citycast Nashville neighbor. So go ahead, pause, join. Go over to membership.citycast.fm. It's only $10 a month or $100 a year and you get so many exclusive perks and benefits. So join today. Do it right now because if you don't, you can't listen to this. All right, folks, we did it. We're at the end. It is Friday. You know what you can do because it's Friday? Office hours at East Nashville Beer Works with us. Guys, we started this last week. We met some very cool listeners who we didn't previously know. Shout out Maggie. Like, folks came out. Some folks brought books. Some folks brought their computers. I was literally editing the newsletter while drinking a delicious beer. I don't think I made any typos. Come hang with us. Two to five at East Nashville Beer Works. Marie, how good was that special secret sandwich? The sandwich was incredible. I shared a pretzel. Folks, come on by. I can't eat the pretzel all myself because it's just a quick little afternoon snack. So I'll even share my pretzel with you if you come on by today. It'll be like a lady in the tramp. I know. Oh, yeah. That sounds hot. I do have a little sinus infection right now, so I'll give you that too. Come on by. Nicole, you can bring your laptop and your dogs. You could bring the dogs that you're a dog sitting. Oh, no, they're somewhat reactive to other dogs. That kind of dog. I feel yeah. No, they're not patio dogs. But folks, it's a great way to kick off the weekend. And you know, you can also hang around after our two to five office hours. Hang around. They're having a watch party for the U.S. Men's National Team at East Nashville Beer Works starting at 8 p.m. So you can just make a day of it. Oh, so fun. Come on out and have a great weekend. That's it. We did it. Y'all take care of each other. Thanks, Nicole. Bye.

That's all for today here on CityCast Nashville. And don't forget, you can support this show and get great perks by becoming a Citicast Nashville neighbor at membership.citycast.fm. I'm your creative producer, Marie Cecil Anderson. Our executive producer is Whitney Pastric. Our producer this week is Matthew Rogers. Our CityCast Nashville newsletter editor is Margaret Kingsbury, and our theme music is by Prof Jenkins, with additional music by Andy Larry Ellison and Ryan Inlow from Triple Scoop music via Getty Images. If you enjoyed the show, why not tell your friends? Rate the show. Leave us to review and subscribe to our Citycast Nashville newsletter. We'll be back Monday morning with more news from around the city. Toodles.