Sullivan County adopts updated road-use ordinance to cover data centers and battery storage

Sullivan County officials on Thursday adopted an updated road-use ordinance that expands the county's practice of requiring road-use agreements for large projects beyond solar to include data centers, battery storage and large commercial developments.

The change, introduced at the start of a short meeting, formalizes what officials described as an existing practice to require developers to execute road-use agreements before undertaking projects that could affect county roads. "We just took the prior resolution that you had with respect to [a] solar project that required the road-use agreement and we expanded it to include other major projects," said Rick, a county official who explained the update during the meeting.

Why it matters: County staff said the amendment brings the ordinance into alignment with how the county has handled prior projects such as a recent data center and the larger commercial Maple Creek development, making the paperwork and expectations consistent across project types.

Enforcement and limits: A commissioner asked how the county would enforce the new ordinance, noting that rules without enforcement can be ineffective. "What's our method for enforcing this? You can have all orbits if you want to, but you can't enforce them," the commissioner said. In response, meeting participants stated the county would seek court enforcement if a developer refused to comply: "We would go to a court. If somebody refused, we just go to court and ask," one official said. The record does not include further legal specifics, and county staff did not provide a vote tally for the approval.

Formal action: A motion to sign the updated road-use ordinance was made, seconded and approved by voice vote. The record does not specify who moved and seconded the motion or the numeric vote tally. The board also approved two employee family and medical leave (FMLA) requests in a single motion during the same meeting.

Other business and next steps: A participant asked whether the county could impose a temporary moratorium on new road agreements while officials assess ongoing developments; a board member offered to explain the process separately outside the meeting. The meeting adjourned shortly after the votes.

The ordinance text, any implementing procedures, and the full legal analysis for enforcement were not included in the meeting record and were listed as not specified in the meeting discussion.