This is an opinion editorial by Dennis Fassuliotis, founder of South Carolina Blockchain Inc. and co-founder of South Carolina Emerging Technology Association, Inc.
Why does Buncombe County, NC Moratorium on Bitcoin Mining so important?
Because they got caught.
There’s a contagion sweeping through western North Carolina and this time we know it was man-made in a lab. This is called a “moratorium on bitcoin mining”. His origins dates back to August 2022 in Clay Countyand Buncombe County turned it into this new strain based on a broad interpretation of a North Carolina zoning law to allow a moratorium on development.
When properly used, North Carolina development moratorium law seeks to ensure that a new type of development does not take place until changes in regulations or environmental issues have been properly addressed. This allows for more effective planning and management of growth and development while minimizing potential negative impacts on the community.
Because a moratorium is a drastic restriction of property rights, the law imposes conditions that an administrative authority must meet to obtain one. Even in this case, such a moratorium can only extend to at least 61 days and one year maximum, as noted by the Town Planning Commissioner at a recent public information session.
In this case, Buncombe County Commissioners, under the direction of planning director Nathaniel Penningtonargued they need a one-year moratorium on cryptocurrency mining in unincorporated areas of Buncombe County so they can study the industry And “craft standards for the newly defined use.”
But we already have a working definition for a bitcoin mine, as confirmed in my last op-ed, where I referred to a bitcoin mine as a “digital asset data center.” So, let’s just define a “bitcoin mining center” as a data center that produces an intangible product.
Now is where the rubber meets the road. During the February 2023 commission meeting, armed with the “Zoning for data centers and cryptocurrency mining“, Pennington argued that cryptocurrency mining centers do not meet the definition of a data center under existing North Carolina law.
The North Carolina law that allows tax breaks for data mining centers was adopted in 2015, just six years after the birth of bitcoin. As a result, most states, including North Carolina, live with laws tailored to centralized data center operations and incentives designed to attract enterprise data centers built by companies like Google, which include large campuses, consume large amounts of water and require huge amounts. power. Qualified data centers receive an electricity sales tax exemption.
As a result, North Carolina data mining center laws in practice offer a lot of money to benefit a few select tech companies, but the whole intention of this legal framework was to promote economic development in North Carolina. Rather than following the original intent of the data center definition to create opportunity, it is now the club that is being used to discourage the establishment of digital asset data centers in some western counties of North Carolina.
However, in his haste to pass an ordinance when no permit applications were pending, the planning director failed to include a “statement of the issues or conditions necessitating the moratorium. and (that’s the key word) what alternative action plans to a moratorium were considered…and why those alternative action plans were not adequate,” as required by the North Carolina General Assembly Moratorium Guidelines.
So, in my view, the planning commission has failed to perform the legally required due diligence to impose a moratorium and appears to be acting with a bias intended to discourage bitcoin miners from settling in Buncombe County.
Now that Buncombe County’s overreach has been detected and reported, let’s catch and let go or seize the opportunity to counter unfounded complaints e-waste, noise, water usage and public safety concerns to have this moratorium overturned by county commissioners or the court system?
This ill-enacted moratorium is a low hanging fruit, and Bitcoiners need to put pressure on officials like those in Buncombe County who are not doing their jobs properly or exercising bias without doing their homework. Someone should be held accountable, and in that case, all fingers are pointing in the direction of the Buncombe County Planning Commission and the American Planning Association.
The way Bitcoin mining is handled presents a pivotal moment for Buncombe County’s innovation economy. With their hastily and improperly enacted moratorium, the Buncombe County Commissioners failed to rise to the occasion.
Rather than prohibit a perfectly legal activity they don’t fully understand, the commissioners could have created a county-wide task force, but that was never presented as an option. A working group could study the pros and cons of digital assets, while planning could have a seat at the table and serve all of its constituents, not just a vocal minority. That should have been the goal. Instead, the adopted policy stifles innovation and advances a false narrative.
I know this has not gone unnoticed at the state level and the recent unanimous vote to advance an anti-central bank digital currency (CBDC) bill after public uproar resulted in the revision of a previous anti-Bitcoin bill tells me that progress can be made. Education at all levels remains key. Hopefully Buncombe County Commissioners will learn to join the cause or miss one of the most important emerging tech industries driving the adoption of the strongest money ever invented.
This is a guest post by Dennis Fassuliotis. The opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.