Town of Niagara considering one-year crypto-mining moratorium

By Timothy Chipp

In an effort to nip a potential problem in the bud, Town of Niagara officials would like to put the kibosh on cryptocurrency mining and data processing centers within their jurisdiction.

The Niagara Town Council on Tuesday approved scheduling a public hearing regarding a proposed moratorium on these business uses, as well as battery energy storage systems, for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17, at Town Hall, 7105 Lockport Road.

Officials don’t believe there’s going to be a large amount of resistance from the community, given the plight of neighbors in North Tonawanda and Niagara Falls, where these uses have been in operation for months.

“We are trying to be proactive on this newer and upcoming type of mining and we are not familiar with it all,” Supervisor Sylvia Virtuoso said in an email. “(We) have read about the issues in the City of Niagara Falls and North Tonawanda. Therefore, we will put a moratorium on it until we can figure out a law that will protect the town when allowing, or if allowing, this type of mining or battery storage.”

Town Attorney Michael Risman said the majority of concerns from those in the affected neighborhoods in those two cities stem from “excessive noise.”

To say it’s excessive noise may be an understatement, though, according to Councilman Johnny Parks.

Parks said the operations in Niagara Falls are heard over and above the noise made by machines in the Goodyear plant where he works.

“When (the Niagara Town Code) was adopted, people didn’t invest in cryptocurrency,” Risman said earlier this month.

Following the public hearing, the board could decide to adopt the proposed moratorium, which would grant the town one year to research and figure out their next steps, legally.

This isn’t the first time in recent years the town has chosen to implement, or consider implementing, a moratorium concerning select business uses for commercial property.

In September 2023, town officials opted to avoid a moratorium on self-storage units in commercial zones – a business use originally for industrial – through a revised local law changing the zoning uses.

In June 2023, the board approved a six-month moratorium on wind and solar farms, meant to allow the current board installed in January to proceed with regulating the uses how it saw fit.

In other board news, Virtuoso requested the board approve a three-person board of ethics in the town.

Judy Villani, Stephanie Tobey and Janet Edwards were nominated to fill the positions.

Virtuoso said the board doesn’t meet unless there’s a need. The last time a need arose was in 2013, she said.

“We don’t want to wait until we have a problem,” Virtuoso said.