As small towns around Asheville move into their communities with cryptocurrency mines, Buncombe County is considering a temporary mining moratorium, a year-long shutdown to review regulations or a possible mining ban.
At its April 4 meeting, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners scheduled a public hearing for May 2 to consider the suspension order. If approved, staff recommends that it be extended from May 2, 2023 to May 1, 2024.
"Judging by the time I've been on the committee, we've never faced anything like this before," said Commissioner Terry Wells, who initially started the conversation with the board after hearing community concerns.
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"We felt that we wanted to make sure that with the arrival of the (global plan) we would have an opportunity to assess what happens in the future. The moratorium certainly gives us an opportunity to make sure that we stay ahead and look at the big picture."
© Angela Wilhelm/Asheville Citizen Times Buncombe County Commissioner Terry Wells April 4, 2020 3.Also Read: Noisy Neighbors: Rural North Carolina Towns Battle Cryptocurrency Miners Next Door
Previous coverage: Buncombe County commissioners discuss affordable housing, cryptocurrency and finance
Large-scale cryptocurrency mining operations, which are mostly large warehouses filled with computers, are not currently listed as a land use in county zoning ordinances.
Planning Director Nate Pennington said the county currently has no applications for such projects, but the moratorium would give the county "more time" to determine what standards or other regulations need to be in place.
Cryptocurrency mining operations "can adversely impact surrounding areas through excess energy consumption, e-waste, pollution and noise," according to Pennington's report to the council, and the temporary closure "will protect the public interest and the well-being of area residents." .'
Wells also noted that cryptocurrency assets typically do not generate significant economic impact or business opportunities.
© Angela Wilhelm/Asheville Citizen Times Buncombe County Commissioners meeting in Asheville, April 4, 2023.Read more: Buncombe County Comprehensive Plan 2043: Helping Children and Seniors Shape the Next 20 Years
What is cryptocurrency mining?
Cryptocurrency mining involves banks of specialized computers that perform billions of calculations every second to win a kind of lottery against other miners. The winner verifies a block of transactions added to the blockchain, the virtual ledger that supports cryptocurrency, and for their work miners receive a bundle of coins that can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In North Carolina, discussion of cryptocurrency mining began in the town of Murphy in Cherokee County, about 90 miles southwest of Asheville, in the westernmost corner of the state between Tennessee and Georgia.
According to Wells, Murphy is almost always responsive when residents bring their concerns to him.
According to a December 2021 USA Today report, Cherokee opened its first cryptocurrency mine in 2019 in an old cable factory. A few months later, another cryptomine, and then another, appeared in the area, and as of 2020, at least three mines have opened in the district.
In Murphy, the buzz created by some crypto-assets has begun to scare community members, with some reports describing it as an "other-worldly tone" and a Washington Post article in August describing it as a never-ending "grass plane." .
Cherokee County Board of Commissioners meeting minutes from Jan. 23 refer to the introduction of the noise ordinance as an effort to address "problems with cryptocurrency mining." The county's attorney said the county previously passed a resolution in the General Assembly calling for a state law to ban cryptocurrencies in Cherokee County.
According to Pennington, the demand for cryptocurrency mining — and how design standards, zoning regulations and municipal practices need to change — is relatively new in most of the United States, but he's seen interest in other areas, such as Missoula, Montana and Pitt County. NC
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© Brian Gordon Cherokee County North Carolina is home to several cryptocurrency mines.What's next for Buncombe County?
A report by Buncombe County staff said the county considered alternative solutions to the moratorium but found none. The zoning ordinance does not clearly identify cryptocurrency mining as a specific use, according to a February staff presentation, but there is a general classification of storage and vaults.
The staff report said the one-year moratorium, if approved, would allow the county to complete its comprehensive plan and examine what type of zoning is appropriate for this land use.
County staff have been tasked with studying and preparing a zoning ordinance amendment related to cryptocurrency mining before the moratorium ends.
Sarah Hanosky is a city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, a USA TODAY Network newspaper. News tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or tweet @slhonosky. Support local daily journalism with a subscription to Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared in the Asheville Citizen Times: Buncombe Commissioners Consider Temporary Ban on Crypto Mining; When is the vote?