MOUNT VERNON — Wayne, Clinton, Liberty, and College townships recently submitted zoning revisions to the Knox County Regional Planning Commission that either define data centers, add them as prohibited uses, or add a “catch-all” statement.
The catch-all statement reads:
“No specific use which is defined by this resolution shall be construed as being included within the definition of any other defined use.”
In other words, if something is not defined, it is not allowed.
Land Use chair Steve Bratton said the county prosecutor recommended the statement to protect against entities calling data centers by another name.
“We have to have faith that the prosecutor, the definitions that he’s given us would stand up in court. He claims that it would,” Bratton said.
The Land Use Committee voted to waive the requirement to come before the committee if the only item a township wants to change is adding the prosecutor’s recommended language about data centers.
Regional Planning Commission Secretary Darrel Severns will check with legal counsel whether townships can skip land use and go straight to the full commission.
RPC members approved the data center revisions. They also approved the following changes:
• College Township: Adding a definition of short-term rental and changing the rear yard setback from 60 feet to 20 feet.
• Liberty Township: Adding a definition for accessory dwelling unit and short-term rental, decreasing the access width for rear dwelling units from 40 feet to 30 feet for one RDU and from 50 feet to 40 feet for Multiple RDUs, and allow nonconforming structures to be rebuilt within 12 months if damaged or destroyed by disaster or unintentional action.
However, the committee recommended careful analysis of the language about rear and accessory dwelling units to ensure no unintended consequences are created by allowing additional dwelling units that cannot be separated for sale.
