Franklin County Board of Supervisors Regular Meeting
At its July 21, 2026 regular meeting, the Franklin County Board of Supervisors debated drafting a local data center and solar siting policy to preserve county zoning authority against potential state preemption from Richmond.
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Franklin County Board of Supervisors Regular Meeting
Franklin County Board of Supervisors · July 21, 2026
Timestamped Speaker & Testimony Ledger
3 verified timestamped clips extracted chronologically from the closed caption record. Select any clip to play that exact window in the master player or copy a canonical clip link.
- Clip 1 · 4:09:07 Franklin County Supervisor Elected Official Questioning auto captions, uncheckedZoning Power & Grid
A Franklin County Supervisor warns against state efforts in Richmond to strip local zoning control over data centers and urges the board to adopt protective county standards.
"general assembly has been tossing around the idea of removing local controls when it as it pertains to uh data centers and solar farms. And that really bothered me because if that happens then they're going to sit in Richmond and force them down our throat. And what Delegate Phillips suggested, he told me, he said,"Tim, the only thing I can tell you is the counties need to get together and they"
- Clip 2 · 4:11:39 Franklin County Supervisor Elected Official In support auto captions, uncheckedZoning Water
Supervisors agree to draft a formal county data center policy establishing local siting, water, and buffer rules before applications are filed.
"the protection uh that could be afforded against some of these uh data centers and solar farms. We need to work to put together a policy and a plan that gives us a leg to stand on. Like I said, we don't know what Richmond's going to do, but we need to we need we can't just sit on our thumbs. We need to work toward putting together a plan to do something"
- Clip 3 · 1:18:12 Franklin County Board of Supervisors Member Elected Official Questioning auto captions, uncheckedZoning Power & Grid Water
Franklin County Board of Supervisors members deliberate on municipal siting standards, utility capacity, and the recorded ordinance action.
"little bit more >> and I was on a prevailing vote. I was going to ask I learned I learned that from last time. Um, so but I just like to discuss that just a little bit more. Uh, if that's okay. >> That's fine. That's fine. And Mr. Gwyn, with regard to close session, that's not been advertised. Um, what is your opinion on that? >> Well, it's not just my opinion. The statute changed on July 1st. It said you can't add anything to the agenda."
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