Hearings set in Franklin data center lawsuits
Published 8:39 am Tuesday, May 19, 2026
FRANKLIN — The schedule for attorneys to file briefs and prepare their arguments in two lawsuits concerning a proposed data center in Franklin has solidified.
Simpson Circuit Judge Mark Thurmond set July 20 as the date for oral arguments in a lawsuit involving data center developer TenKey LandCo I LLC, the Franklin Planning and Zoning Commission and Franklin Citizens for Responsible Development, a nonprofit group that opposes the proposed data center.
On Aug. 6, arguments will be heard in court in a lawsuit between TenKey and Simpson Circuit Court concerning an ordinance the fiscal court passed attempting to regulate data center projects located anywhere in the county, including within Franklin’s city limits.
TenKey is the listed applicant for permits to place a data center and energy production facility on land that it owns on Steele Road.
Developers have said the project on the 200-acre tract of land amounts to a $1.6 billion investment, resulting in the creation of 100-200 jobs and $17.68 million to support local infrastructure and services.
Several community members have expressed opposition to the project at meetings of the planning and zoning commission, sharing concerns that the project would adversely affect quality of life through its potential environmental impacts and reliance on large amounts of water to cool the computers storing the data at the facilities.
The city planning and zoning board approved a preliminary development plan in March for the project, which led the Franklin citizens group to sue the developer and the board in Simpson Circuit Court in an effort to overturn the approval.
The citizens group includes members who own an antique mall and outdoor flea market on land adjacent to the proposed data center site and who claim that business at the outdoor market would be negatively impacted by “excessive production of noise, fumes, pollutants and odors” from the TenKey site.
Attorneys representing TenKey have filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the citizens group lacks the legal standing to appeal the planning and zoning board’s approval of the preliminary development plan.
Timothy Mayer, the attorney representing the citizens group, filed a motion for an extension of time to officially respond to the motion to dismiss, and Thurmond set a June 5 deadline for Mayer’s response.
Attorney Kathryn Eckert, representing TenKey, and Keith Brown, the attorney representing the planning and zoning board in this matter, will have until June 26 to reply to Mayer’s filings.
In the other lawsuit, Thurmond granted a motion from Eckert to amend her original complaint against the fiscal court so that it reflects the court’s vote this week to amend county zoning regulations so that data centers and the on-site energy systems used to power them could not operate in the county without the applicants first obtaining a conditional use permit, which enables the local board of adjustments to also impose regulations on a data center project.
TenKey representatives claim that the data center is a permitted use for land zoned for heavy industry and have sued to have the fiscal court’s ordinance nullified on the grounds that the county government does not have the authority to regulate a project seeking to build within Franklin’s city limits.
Thurmond set a June 19 deadline for TenKey lawyers to file a brief arguing their position, with attorney Aaron Smith, representing the fiscal court in the lawsuit, receiving a July 17 deadline to respond.
TenKey would have until July 31 to formally reply to a response from the fiscal court ahead of Aug. 6 oral arguments in the circuit court.
