Stay updated with ZDNET: Mark us as a preferred source on Google.
Key points from ZDNET
- The Nashville Zoo is opposing a planned data center in its vicinity.
- This dispute reflects broader national worries.
- Zoning regulations are adding complexity to an already tense situation.
In Nashville, Tennessee, concern is growing over the well-being of clouded leopards.
These elusive and endangered cats inhabit regions such as Nepal and Bangladesh. While conservationists are working to breed them in captivity to help secure their future, progress has been difficult—largely because the animals are highly sensitive to noise.
In June, news emerged that a 69,220-square-foot data center might be constructed on land directly behind the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere, which runs a breeding program for the species. Now, residents of Nashville are joining communities nationwide in pushing back against new data center developments.
Over 385,000 people have signed a petition on Change.org, and the issue has captured national attention. Even country music icon and Nashville native Brad Paisley shared a video, labeling the project a “monstrosity” and an “absolute nightmare scenario.”
Also: Nvidia aims to control every aspect of your AI data center
At its core, the conflict—community versus data center—is becoming a familiar story. Towns in states including Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and others are wrestling with the potential consequences of hosting a data center—and how little influence they may actually have over the decision.
Yet this particular clash gives a tangible, emotional face to some of the deepest anxieties surrounding data centers. From noise and environmental harm to the regulatory confusion that arises as local governments scramble to modernize zoning laws, it’s easy to understand why the nation is watching the fate of the clouded leopard—and the community that cares for it—so closely.
“We can all picture that,” said Joe Szynkowski, founder of The UpWrite Group and a PR expert experienced in crisis communications. “That’s what gives it such impact—this vulnerable little animal right beside a multi-billion dollar industry. It’s a compelling narrative.”
The data center next door
One of the top worries about data centers is their environmental footprint, particularly noise pollution. A March survey by the Pew Research Center revealed that 39% of Americans view data centers as “mostly bad” for the environment.
Also: I ditched ChatGPT for Ollama—a free, private, local AI—and here’s why
The zoo’s primary concern centers on how the facility might affect its animals and their living conditions.
“Persistent noise from cooling systems and generators, along with light pollution from intense security and operational lighting, can severely disrupt animal behavior—interfering with their natural light cycles and daily routines. The resulting stress can undermine our conservation work, especially our clouded leopard breeding program,” the zoo stated on its website, highlighting the plight of the sensitive cats.
A clouded leopard at the Nashville Zoo.
chad lee / 500px/Getty Images
The Nashville Zoo did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
DC Blox, the Atlanta-based firm behind the proposed data center, said it is aware of the concerns surrounding the project.
“For the past ten years, DC BLOX has operated data centers near homes, schools, daycares, and businesses across the Southeast without any complaints or health issues,” the company told ZDNET in a statement.
It added that it plans to use closed-loop or waterless cooling systems to minimize water consumption, cover costs for power usage and any new electrical infrastructure, monitor and control noise to meet local standards, install shielded lighting, and comply with all federal and local environmental rules.
Also: Wearables generate massive amounts of health data—and doctors can’t keep up
“The proposed DC BLOX facility is not an AI factory. It’s designed as a communications hub to manage growing regional internet demand—critical infrastructure that must be close to the people it serves,” the company explained.
But locals like Wes Hadley, who recently launched an urban forest restoration business, remain skeptical that the full environmental consequences are being properly assessed. Hadley even wrote a song about the situation titled “Electric Zoo” and shared it online.
“This is just another case of development with outsized environmental costs that current regulations don’t adequately hold developers accountable for,” he said.
Some of these hidden costs are starting to surface in local reporting.
According to alt-weekly The Nashville Scene, stormwater runoff from the data center would drain into the zoo’s existing stormwater system—which is already described as “impaired.” The added flow could worsen the problem.
In a separate article exploring further risks to zoo animals, The Tennessean noted that a tributary of Mill Creek—home to an endangered species of crawfish—runs through the zoo grounds. A zoology expert warned that contaminated runoff could damage the waterway and harm the crawfish population.
“When these projects are built, the real cost isn’t just construction—it’s the long-term environmental burden,” Hadley said.
A regulatory maze
Like many cities across the U.S., Nashville is struggling to update its zoning policies at a time when tensions and public emotions are running high.
“If it weren’t next to the zoo, this wouldn’t have gone viral,” said Courtney Johnston, Metro Councilmember for District 26. “Everyone’s in an uproar—and that’s the problem. We’re already behind on this.”
Johnston explained that Nashville’s zoning code doesn’t classify data centers as a distinct land use. As a result, when the plans were submitted, the zoning administrator categorized them as “general office,” bypassing the need for an environmental review.
“That’s what caused the panic,” she said.
Also: The trade-offs of wearing a smartwatch or ring
According to the Data Center Map, there are already about 12 data centers operating within Nashville. The DC Blox project isn’t the only source of controversy—residents of North Nashville have also launched a petition against building a data center on the campus of historic Fisk University, an HBCU.
Johnston has proposed both a text amendment to formally define data centers in the zoning code and a 90-day moratorium to pause development until the policy is finalized. She is also contesting the “general office” classification assigned by the zoning administrator.
To date, there are 77 active moratoriums on data center construction across the country, according toMeanwhile, 38 states have offered tax breaks to data centers, according to a report from the National Conference of State Legislatures, underscoring a possible disconnect between state-level ambitions and local concerns.
“At the state level, at the utility level, they all want [data centers], but it’s the local communities that end up bearing the consequences,” said Ashish Nadkarni, IDC’s group vice president and general manager for enterprise infrastructure.
Nadkarni believes one potential fix would be for states to designate specific zones for data centers — areas set apart from residential neighborhoods and places like zoos — on land where the negative impacts of such development would be minimized.
Such an approach could spare local officials from having to react at the last minute.
“[We are] literally just trying to do everything in our power to catch up and move forward with as much care and responsibility as possible,” Johnston said.
‘Cartoon movie villain behavior’
As AI has quickly become a topic of everyday conversation, Szynkowski observed that for many people, AI feels like an antagonist — something poised to disrupt how they work, learn, live, and now, how they experience a community space like a zoo.
A Gallup poll conducted in May found that 70% of Americans are opposed to having AI data centers in their neighborhood.
“Data centers and AI companies, broadly speaking, have a public image problem,” Szynkowski said.
For residents, the gap between the two sides of the debate feels enormous.
“Seeing this proposed project just feet away from the zoo struck me as almost cartoon movie villain behavior,” Hadley said.
Also: AI can detect intimate partner violence years before victims disclose it — but is that safe?
Beyond public relations, Nadkarni emphasized that financial incentives are what drive the companies building data centers.
“You could argue that we need data centers because it’s in our national interest to stay competitive with AI,” Nadkarni said, “But on the flip side, local residents also value their quality of life and don’t want it to be undermined.”
That tension only grows when community members feel they’re being kept in the dark.
In addition to the initial single-story structure, the plans call for a three-story, 40-megawatt data center building, a substation, and a guard house, according to The Nashville Scene — a disclosure that has further fueled opposition.
Despite all of this, people like Hadley and Johnston aren’t opposed to data centers in principle — they simply want full transparency, adequate time to prepare, and accountability throughout the process.
“The industry has a responsibility to the community, to the local residents, to educate them about what they do and what they don’t do,” Nadkarni said.
Zoo life
Uncertainty may be yet another defining feature of the data center-versus-community conflict. Johnston said it could be weeks before Nashville — and everyone else — learns the zoo’s fate, including those clouded leopards that are reluctant to breed.
Rachel Maack, a college student in Nashville, holds a zoo membership and visits two or three times a week, looking for a moment of calm in what is otherwise a bustling “it” city.
Also: How ChatGPT’s new Lockdown mode shields you from data theft (and what else it does)
She’s among the more than 385,000 people who signed the petition, and she’s watching the numbers continue to rise.
“I think an easy line for people to draw is when it’s actively harming people and animals’ well-being — it’s harder to see when we’re just talking about abstract numbers,” she said. “Not everyone in the world has visited the Nashville Zoo, but I think everyone has experienced a place that feels safe and brings wonder and learning to them, and those places are always worth protecting.”
