Murphy – Cherokee County Commissioner Ben Adams will be convening the county’s dormant planning board to address industrial growth with potentially detrimental impacts on the county.
Adams decided not to run for re-election after losing a bid to become chairman of the board in December, but realized at the board’s Feb. 16 meeting that he is still the chairman of a board – the planning board – and that there are still issues “close to his heart” – land use.
During a Feb. 5 candidates forum, Commissioners Dan Eichenbaum and Cal Stiles, who are running for re-election, revealed that a moratorium on high-impact industries put in place three years ago was allowed to expire. The moratorium was in response to the rise of “crypto mines” in the county but also addressed a wide range of industries including gravel pits and nuclear waste dumps.
At some point – when was not revealed – board attorney Darryl Brown advised that the moratorium or any ordinance like it would be unenforceable.
Adams said the lapse has been “eating on me. The ordinance has been dead for over a year.”
“I love this place,” he said, but the growth of industrial-strength data centers like one being expanded by Core Scientific in Marble is turning the county into what he didn’t want it to be.
Adams plans to convene a meeting of the county’s planning board, which consists of the board of commissioners, to address industrial issues.
Developments in Marble
Core Scientific initially turned an old thread plant into a crypto mine – the largest of the county’s three by far. More recently, it has amped up development of the site to support generative artificial intelligence.
He said when Core Scientific asked the county to lift its restrictions, it misrepresented its intentions – Adams called it a “major lie.” Using site plans obtained via public records requests, he identified a huge cache of lithium batteries, industrial strength generators, and tanks storing 300,000 gallons of fuel on-site.
The Marble plant will consume enough power to run thousands of homes and enough water to supply a town, running 24 hours a day. Adams also worried about hazards such as large operation would present.
If the Marble AI facility catches fire, he said the recent fire at an egg plant in Marble would be “like blowing out a candle.” A battery fire can melt asphalt and burn dirt.
Adams said he is opposed to imposing zoning on the county but is not against land use ordinances, but Brown advised that it is hard to “do land use without zoning.” Adams pointed out that title insurance lists “right of enjoyment” as a cause for claim, and Cherokee County residents have the right to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
“We have to do something to stop this from happening,” he said, referring to industrial growth like the Marble plant.
He pointed out that other cities and counties in North Carolina have imposed land use restrictions against crypto mines and generative AI without zoning, including Clay County. The Town of Murphy also bans such industries, but Murphy has zoning.
He said these counties are able to identify and abate nuisances that are detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of their citizens.
At the candidate forum, Cal Stiles said Darryl Brown asked whether such ordinances this way: “Was the squeeze worth the juice?”
“Yes,” Adams said, referring to that quote. “The squeeze is worth the juice.”
“I have 10 months left in office,” he said. “There are things I want to get done.”
Adams wants to reinstate the moratorium and develop a permanent ordinance to put in its place to “keep out things that are destroying our environment.”
“If we have to spend $100,000 to get a $600 settlement, so bit it – our citizens are safe,” he said.
Adams said he will be calling to reorganize the planning board from one consisting of county commissioners to one consisting of one commissioner, one representative from each of the towns and the remaining seats filled by citizens.
Other viewpoints
Commissioner Mark Stiles agreed with some of Adams’ points, but said some things, like concrete plants, are necessary for the county’s economy. He said he would support legislation aimed at bitcoin and AI, but Brown advised that such an ordinance can’t be that narrowly defined, and would result in an extension “not worth the paper it is written on.”
Brown said a land use ordinance or changes to a planning board will have to be developed with a thorough process including public hearings.
“It can be done, but it needs to be done by procedure,” Brown said.
As far as a moratorium, however, the county has exhausted that ability.
“You only get one shot,” he said.