Setbacks, school proximity, neighboring land uses, traffic, screening, emergency planning, and the evidence needed to assess compatibility.
Project MidSpan is proposed on roughly 306 acres behind Walker Valley High School. County leadership and local reporting place the nearest proposed data-center building at about 1,700 feet from the high school. Bradley County Schools also owns adjacent Lauderdale Memorial Highway property approved for a future middle school and said in September 2026 that it still plans to move forward with that school. The April county rules require 3,000-foot separation from schools, existing residences, churches, and specified zoning districts. The final site plan and operational studies are needed to assess actual impacts rather than relying on distance alone.
Records and statements that can be tied to an identified source.
Mayor Davis and local reporting describe the proposed campus as directly behind Walker Valley High School and cite an approximately 1,700-foot distance from the nearest proposed building to the school.
Resolution 2026-08 includes a 3,000-foot separation requirement from existing residences, schools, churches, and specified zoning districts for regulated data-center and cryptocurrency-mining uses.
Sources:MID-002
Local reporting states that Bradley County published a proposed MidSpan site plan received from SDCL. Placeward should use the original plan, survey coordinates, and parcel boundaries before treating approximate published distances as final design measurements.
Sources:MID-005
Bradley County Board of Education minutes from September 2024 approve the purchase of property on Lauderdale Memorial Highway for a future middle school adjacent to Walker Valley High School. This adds a planned school use to the receptor context even though the final school design and construction schedule are not established here.
Sources:MID-017
Local reporting on September 24, 2026 says the school system still plans to move forward with a proposed middle school near Walker Valley despite the Project MidSpan dispute.
Sources:MID-018
These statements are attributed to the project or its participants and are not automatically independent findings.
SDCL has publicly said it wants to be a good neighbor, with particular attention to Walker Valley High School.
Sources:MID-007
Local reporting attributes to SDCL a plan for extensive landscaping or screening, including a barrier described as approximately 20 feet high.
A setback is a policy tool. It does not substitute for project-specific operating data.
TDEC’s data-center guidance says local siting, zoning, land-use compatibility, traffic, lighting, noise, and local infrastructure allocation generally fall outside TDEC’s authority and are handled through local government, utilities, or other applicable processes.
Sources:MID-013
A useful compatibility review should measure distances from actual equipment and operations—generator yards, cooling systems, substations, loading areas, access roads, and lighting—to school property, homes, churches, and other nearby receptors.
The current assessment should move when stronger records, rulings, studies, or enforceable commitments materially change the evidence.
These are the highest-value documents to seek through public records, project disclosures, regulatory filings, or the court record.
