CLINTON – To ensure community safeguards, the Anderson County Board of Commissioners will be considering three separate amendments to the Anderson County Zoning Resolution at their regularly scheduled meeting on June 15, 2026.  The resolutions will be considered during a public hearing at 6 p.m. June 15 in Room 312 at the Courthouse.

Anderson County’s Zoning Resolution, first adopted in March of 1977, is currently silent on Cryptocurrency, Battery Energy Storage, and Data Processing Centers.  Under the current resolution, in areas where the resolution is silent, if an applicant for any data center, cryptocurrency mining facility, or battery energy storage facility applies for a permit in the Planning and Development Office, the Board of Zoning Appeals would review the application and make a judgment call.

By amending the Zoning Resolution of Anderson County, Anderson County would be taking proactive steps to ensure community safeguards and performance standards for any potential applicant.

“These amendments do not mean any of these specific industries are locating here and currently there are no applicants or planned projects in the unincorporated area of Anderson County.  But without the amendments, Anderson County is extremely limited on what we can do to ensure the community is safeguarded should one of these industries seek to build in the unincorporated area of Anderson County,” said County Mayor Terry Frank.

“In addition, several jurisdictions have moved towards a moratorium on data centers to allow more time for studying community safeguards.  I have requested a legal opinion from the Law Director regarding the moratorium process in Anderson County in case county commission chooses to request additional time to study the issue,” continued Mayor Frank.

Below are a few highlights for updates to the Zoning Resolution for future applicants:

  • Establishing minimum property size of 8 acres.
  • Written Assurance of Available Power from the power distributor.
  • Written Assurance of Adequate Utility Services to ensure water and sewer capacity will be available and will not reduce the service to existing customers.
  • Building setback requirements.
  • Maximum sound levels.
  • Buffer screens.
  • Surety for site cleanup.
  • Limiting use to Industrial Zones.
  • Requirements for disposal of debris/equipment/materials.

The three proposed Amendments can be viewed here: https://andersoncountyplanning.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/zoning-amendments.pdf .  The amendments were proposed and recommended by the Anderson County Planning Commission.

At the time of the initial adoption of the zoning resolution in 1977, these referenced industries weren’t on Anderson County’s radar.  As an example, Cryptocurrency mining came on the scene in 2009 and what began as a hobbyist activity developed into a full-scale industrial process.  The Anderson County Board of Commissioners can consider amendments to the zoning resolution to address emerging industries.

***