Hawkins commission unearthed County Powers Act to ban crypto mines

BULLS GAP — The Hawkins County Board of Commissioners banned cryptocurrency mines and data centers with authority granted by the County Powers Act. Two years ago, the board didn't know it had this power. County Mayor Mark DeWitte said the board considered passing the act in 2023 to regulate trash and other nuisances. It empowers counties to ban and regulate anything deemed harmful to the welfare of residents — from businesses to property uses to conduct. Hawkins residents opposed these powers, concerned it would infringe on their freedoms. DeWitte said two board meetings drew huge crowds in protest. "It was not meant to be a lead-in to zoning in the county," DeWitte said. "And that's what everybody thought it was." The board pulled the resolution from its meeting agenda due to the backlash, never voting on it. A month later, Commissioner Joshua Gilliam introduced a resolution to never reconsider the County Powers Act. The board passed this Listening to the People resolution with 11 commissioners in support, one against and one abstaining. However, DeWitte later learned — while compiling resolutions from the past 18 years — that the 2012 Board of Commissioners already passed the County Powers Act. The Listening to the People resolution was moot. DeWitte began his compilation project, he said, after hearing from former commissioners that the board lost track of resolutions as its roster changed. Now, he saw that tendency firsthand. The board already had the power it promised to never seek. "And I thought, 'Well, I'll just hang on to that knowledge,'" DeWitte said. "Like having an ace in the hole — [I'll] bring it out when we really need it." In mid-September, The Kingsport Times News reported that ExoticRidge Crypto Co. planned to start a bitcoin mine and data center in Bulls Gap. District 7 Commissioner Robbie Palmer — who represents the area — said his constituents were concerned about the operation's noise production, among other effects. "The citizens made their voices loud and clear," Palmer said. "I got more phone calls about that than I did about a tax increase." This, DeWitte said, was when the county needed to use the powers act. Behind the ban In the days before the board's Sept. 22 meeting, DeWitte worked with Palmer, fellow District 7 Commissioner Bobby Jinks and county attorney Allen Coup to write a resolution addressing the community's concerns. DeWitte said they wanted to act before ExoticRidge began construction. DeWitte and Coup wrote a noise ordinance that limited sound output to 60 decibels at 100 feet. Sixty decibels is around the sound level a two-person conversation emits. The natural gas engines that ExoticRidge specified in a construction permit emit 72 decibels at 50 feet. The site's computers would also produce noise. Palmer was concerned a noise ordinance wasn't targeted enough and wrote the crypto mine and data center ban. Attorneys from the County Technical Assistance Service, however, told DeWitte that banning one type of industry could lead to a legal challenge. "You've got to give them someplace to go, if you're going to say they're limited to such-and-such areas. And that amounts to zoning," DeWitte said. "You can't do zoning-like things without actually having zoning." Palmer said the ban covers two industries — crypto mines and data centers — while ExoticRidge CEO Will Daugherty said at the Sept. 22 meeting that the industries are too closely-linked to say they are separate. "There are several companies out there that do both, that utilize both," Daugherty said. "In fact, cryptocurrency mining is a form of a data center. It is one-and-the-same, in my mind." Daugherty could not be reached for comment by time of publication. If the ban is challenged, DeWitte said the board would explore editing it or looking for another solution.