A proposal to construct a data center in the city of Franklin, Kentucky, has been effectively greenlit after it received a recommendation of approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday.

The project, backed by TenKey LandCo, would see the construction of three 200,000 sq ft (18,580 sqm) data centers across a 200-acre land parcel near Steele Road, according to reporting by the Franklin Favorite.

The land parcel will be located in an area soon to be turned into an industrial park named Gateway 65, according to TenKey’s website about the project.

The nearly 1,100 acre Gateway 65 Industrial Park, owned by real estate company OTN Group, is already zoned for any potential data center use, meaning that the developer only needs to return to the planning commission with a final site plan.

It also means that the project does not need the City Commission's approval.

"We have vested rights for land use, which means the project is effectively greenlit. All remaining steps are procedural," said an OTN spokesperson.

"We have not yet broken ground because we are currently beginning the civil engineering phase for both the data center and its ancillary power infrastructure," the spokesperson added.

TenKey says that it will build and operate its own on-site power plant using natural gas turbines and battery storage, claiming that “residential and commercial electric rates will not be affected.”

It also claims that the data center will use closed-loop cooling, and states that the project “has not requested tax abatements, TIF districts, or public incentives.”

The company estimates that the data center will provide around $30 million in annual property tax revenue, based on calculations that make reference to JLL's North America Data Center Report and a report by Commonwealth Economics for a data center in Louisville, Kentucky.

Details about the data center’s IT capacity were not disclosed.

Opposition to the facility has been fierce. Some audience members who attended the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting were asked to leave for being ‘disruptive’, according to the Franklin Favorite, and Gateway 65's Facebook page is littered with angry comments, many of which repeat the same refrain – “go away.”

Gateway 65 and TenKey are conducting a ‘Community Priority Survey’ where residents can choose what service they would want prioritized if “Franklin had additional annual revenue.”

Developer TenKey is currently mounting a legal challenge against an ordinance in Simpson County – also located in Kentucky – that requires data centers to acquire a conditional use permit before construction begins.

Franklin is located in southern Kentucky, near the state’s border with Tennessee.