Murphy – A proposed Cherokee County noise ordinance could help quiet ongoing disturbances created by a controversial crypto mining facility.
“I have researched the issue, and at the direction of the (Cherokee County) Board of Commissioners, I’ve advised them that the way to help you abate this problem is through the adoption of a noise ordinance that we can enforce,” Cherokee County attorney Darryl Brown said during the board’s Dec. 6 meeting. “That’s how they’re
proceeding.”
The board will hold a public hearing on the noise ordinance at their regularly scheduled meeting at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 18, 2022, at the Cherokee County Courthouse. The announcement came during a meeting in which the commissioners fielded more than an hour of public complaints about the crypto mining facility on Harshaw Road.
Board Chair Dan Eichenbaum called a special meeting Monday night, in part to discuss and consider a resolution requesting
legislation that would allow Cherokee County to regulate existing and future crypto mining facilities. State Rep. Karl Gillespie (R-Franklin) said he and state Sen. Kevin Corbin (R-Franklin) are both aware of the situation, and he has had numerous conversations with Eichenbaum.
“Based on some recommendations I have made, he is looking at some options, and likewise we are looking into some options at the state level,” Gillespie said in a letter to a local resident. “My office will continue to work to find resolution to this issue.”
The resolution was approved.
The crowd overflowed outside of the commissioners’ boardroom on Dec. 6, when more than two dozen residents took the opportunity to speak publicly about their frustrations. One resident suggested the commissioners impose a $10,000-per-day tax on the crypto operation until the noise is abated – with the tax incrementally increasing each month.
“We can only place taxes on those things that the state authorizes, and taxes by our constitution are not allowed to be punitive in nature,” Brown said.
State vs. local
Brown and Eichenbaum spent a portion of the meeting explaining what powers the commissioners have and have not been provided by the General Assembly. Brown said there is no law allowing Cherokee County’s commissioners, nor any other group of commissioners in the state, to block a particular type of business from entering a county.
Several residents appeared surprised to learn about the complete absence of zoning ordinances within Cherokee County – outside of Andrews, Murphy or lands owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
One resident asked if any industry can be regulated by Cherokee County. Brown said state law previously allowed the county to regulate certain adult establishments, but that statute expired at the beginning of 2021.
“Our ability to regulate adult establishments, we don’t even have the authority to do that,” Brown said. “What we have on the books is not enforceable.”
Brown said Cherokee County’s current noise ordinance is likewise “completely unenforceable,” and similar ordinances on the books in other counties have already been invalidated by courts. His goal was to craft an ordinance that was both enforceable and doesn’t have unintended consequences for residents who do not live near one of the crypto mining facilities.
“What you do on your own property is up to you,” Brown said. “How it affects folks who are not on your property, that is where this ordinance kicks in.”
New noise ordinance
The proposed noise ordinance, dubbed the Cherokee County Noise Ordinance of 2022, would not take effect until June 1, 2022, if adopted, providing time for companies and individuals to remedy ongoing noise issues without penalty.
Under the ordinance, penalties would be imposed for disturbances such as “any sound exceeding 100 dB(A) as measured from any point not located on the property upon which the sound originates.” The ordinance also prohibits “any sound created or caused by any source in excess of 50 dB(A) that has a continuous duration of 1 hour or more as measured from any point not located on the property from which the sound originates.”
The term “dB(A)” refers to sound pressure level in decibel as measured on a sound meter using an A-weighted network or range. Brown offered a frame of reference for decibel levels.
“If you’re standing right next to someone who is using a jackhammer, you’re getting about 100-105 decibels,” Brown said. “Normal conversation levels run, as we are at right now, at about 60 decibels.”
A resident who attended the meeting said he measured noise from the crypto mining facility at 50-55 decibels roughly three-quarters of a mile away from the facility.
A first offense for a violation of the ordinance would be punished by a fine of no more than $50. A subsequent offense would be punished as a Class 3 misdemeanor. Abatement may serve as a defense to the violation.
The ordinance offers a variety of actions exempt from its penalties, ranging from “discharge of firearms on private property” to “machinery for lawn, timber harvesting or processing or agricultural use between the hours of 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., local time.” A full copy of the ordinance can be found online by visiting www.cherokeecounty-nc.gov and clicking the “Public Hearing Notice” at the top of the page.
Resident concerns
Beyond the noise nuisance created by the crypto mining facility, residents at the Dec. 6 meeting repeatedly pointed to safety concerns. More than one legally blind resident explained how the noise interfered with their ability to rely on their hearing to complete daily tasks. Others recounted a story in which they tried to round up horses that had gotten loose from a neighboring property, and how the noise made it difficult to hear one another as they tried to coordinate during that process.
Eichenbaum said he had spoken to the CEO of the crypto mining facility, who offered assurances that a variety of measures are being put into place to dampen the noise. Those measures include new container structures for servers and noise abatement walls that will be erected before the end of the year.
“He is now manufacturing new structures to put the servers in, which are much more sturdy, which do not require as much of a fan,” Eichenbaum said. “What he is doing, by putting more of those up, he is spreading out the servers so that there are fewer servers in each container. The fewer the servers in each container, the less cooling has to be done in order for those servers to remain cool.”
Eichenbaum said he was told that all units eventually will be housed in these newer containers. More than one person who attended the meeting described the solutions as putting “the horse after the cart” and wanted more details.
“He appears to me to be a community-minded person, a person of good faith, and he’s laid out a plan by which he feels he can have his business in our community without causing the problems that he has caused within earshot of those containers,” Eichenbaum said. “It’s reasonable to allow us to see if he’s a man of his word.”
Planning ahead
Vice chair Jan Griggs read a prepared statement in which she said a lack of ordinances in Cherokee County has attracted businesses that no one else wants. Commissioner Cal Stiles agreed, adding that he was the only commissioner to support moving forward on a comprehensive plan for the county several years earlier.
“Just try to stay ahead of things like this in the future,” local businessman Charlie Spence said. “A year or two ago, who would have ever thought there would be something like crypto mining here in Cherokee County?
“What will it be in the future? I hate to think what the next 10 or 20 years could bring.”