DC BLOX bought land next to the Nashville Zoo for $23 million to build a data center, prompting the zoo to warn that the facility's steady low-frequency noise could harm clouded leopards and impede breeding. Experts say there is limited research on the specific effects of data-center hum on zoo animals and recommend long-term study and mitigation. Nashville's Metro Council imposed a temporary moratorium and advanced eminent domain legislation, though city officials say new zoning likely can't be applied to DC BLOX because permits were already filed. The dispute could lead to a final Council vote and, potentially, litigation over whether a planned seizure would be pretextual.
Nashville Weighs Eminent Domain To Block Data Center Near Zoo Over Noise Concerns
Midjourney
Plans by Atlanta-based DC BLOX to build a data center on land adjacent to the Nashville Zoo have sparked an unusual local dispute. Zoo officials warn that the facility's continuous low-frequency hum could stress animals with sensitive hearing—particularly the clouded leopards the zoo breeds—while city leaders and the developer face legal and scientific uncertainties.
Background
DC BLOX recently closed on the purchase of the zoo-adjacent site for $23 million, a transaction disclosed in recent reporting. Within days, the Nashville-Davidson Metro Council approved a temporary moratorium on new data centers and advanced zoning restrictions targeting such facilities. Councilmembers also moved forward legislation from Mayor Freddie O'Connell that would authorize the city to seize the DC BLOX parcel through eminent domain.
Zoo Concerns
In a June op-ed for The Tennessean, Nashville Zoo president Rick Schwartz wrote: "Clouded Leopards are notoriously sensitive to any mechanical noise, which causes excessive stress and elimination of successful breeding, harming the overall endangered population." The zoo has emphasized that the steady hum of cooling systems could present a novel threat to animals with particularly sensitive hearing.
What Experts Say
Scientific evidence tying data-center noise specifically to harms in zoo animals is limited. Jennifer D'Agostino, chief animal program officer at the Oklahoma City Zoo and president of the American College of Zoological Medicine, told Reason that this is "a bit of new territory." She noted that zoos are more accustomed to episodic crowd noise or continuous sources such as highways and airports, which are the closest analogues. Zoos typically mitigate those impacts through sound barriers and specialized materials around enclosures, and D'Agostino called for longer-term observation to better assess any effects from steady industrial hums.
DC BLOX Response
DC BLOX says it will take steps to limit sound reaching the zoo: installing sound barriers along its property line, using quieter equipment inside the facility, and keeping noise levels at or below local zoning limits. In a company brief the developer wrote, "We will not add perceivable incremental sound at the property line, and sound levels reaching the zoo will be even lower." The firm also noted the industrial park already houses a smaller data center and said it had a "productive" meeting with zoo leadership and the mayor in early July.
Legal And Political Stakes
Even so, the Council proceeded with zoning restrictions and the mayor's eminent domain legislation. City zoning officials have told Axios that the new zoning rules likely cannot be applied to the DC BLOX project because the company had filed the necessary permit applications before the regulations were adopted; under prior rules the project would appear permissible.
The proposed eminent domain measure authorizes Metro to acquire the site citing an asserted need for office space as the public use. Observers note the timing and context suggest the seizure could be motivated primarily by the desire to stop the data center. If Metro's stated plan for converting the land to office use remains vague, DC BLOX could challenge a taking in court as a pretextual seizure in violation of constitutional limits on eminent domain.
Next Steps
The dispute could proceed on several tracks: continued local negotiations, a final Council vote on the eminent domain measure (reported to be possible in early August), and potential litigation if Metro attempts to seize the land. Given the limited scientific evidence one way or the other, both the zoo's concerns and the developer's mitigation plans may factor into how the community and courts resolve the clash.
Note: Reporting cited in this article includes local news coverage and statements from the parties involved. The scientific question of data-center noise impacts on zoo animals remains under-studied.
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