Data Centers: Daily Notes | August 11, 2026

Coachella, California

The Coachella, California City Council is set to discuss an ordinance Wednesday that would ban all data centers within city limits, the culmination of months of resident advocacy after a proposed project sparked backlash.

Coachella To Discuss Full Data Center Ban At Wednesday’s Meeting

The Coachella City Council is set to discuss an ordinance banning data centers and data center uses in the city at its August 12 meeting.

The Riverside RecordAlicia Ramirez

The ordinance would prohibit permitting, establishing or operating any data center in Coachella, covering uses ranging from server farms to AI training and cloud computing, while exempting small accessory server rooms tied to another permitted use. The push followed a proposed data center tied to the city's Municipal Utility Development Agreement with Coachella Valley Power Services LLC, a Stronghold Power Systems subsidiary; a May town hall meant to answer resident questions instead left many frustrated, and hundreds packed a subsequent council meeting to raise concerns about electrical demand, water use, air quality, noise and environmental sustainability.

If the council approves the ordinance Wednesday, final adoption is tentatively expected later this month, with the ban taking effect 30 days afterward. Coachella joins several other Riverside County cities moving against data centers, including Perris, which unanimously advanced its own ban this summer, Desert Hot Springs, which extended its moratorium to two years, and Indio, which is considering a total ban as soon as next month.

Douglas County, Colorado

Douglas County commissioners are set to vote Tuesday on a $19.3 million tax rebate agreement for a Flexential data center under construction in Parker, rebating 100% of the county's share of property taxes on the facility over 35 years.

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The 249,000-square-foot facility, with 22.5 megawatts of power capacity, is being built on a 17-acre site in the Compark Village development. Flexential, a Colorado-headquartered company operating 41 data centers across 18 markets, expects to invest about $205 million; the Town of Parker's planning commission and council unanimously approved the project's zoning in early 2024, though Parker itself isn't offering tax incentives. County documents estimate 16 permanent jobs, while company representatives previously said employment could range from 30 to 50, and Parker officials project $500,000 to $700,000 in annual local revenue for public safety, infrastructure and parks.

Indianapolis, Indiana

The Indianapolis City-County Council voted 23-1 to pause new data center construction through the end of 2027, giving councilors more time to refine the city's regulatory approach.

Indy councilors hit pause button on data centers

The City-County Council voted in favor of a halt on approval of new data centers through 2027.

Mirror IndyPeter Blanchard

Council President Maggie Lewis said the moratorium is meant to allow further work on proposed rules that would restrict sound levels and require developers to submit water management and electrical capacity plans, though critics say those regulations still fall short on health and environmental protections. The pause won't affect three data center projects that have already won approval from the Metropolitan Development Commission, the nine-member board that oversees zoning changes, despite strong resident opposition to those earlier projects. The commission, five of whose members are appointed by Mayor Joe Hogsett, who has voiced support for the moratorium, must still approve the pause itself at its Aug. 19 meeting.

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Councilor Michael-Paul Hart cast the lone vote against the moratorium, saying he'd rather see clear development standards in place so the city could always negotiate more restrictive commitments from developers rather than halting projects outright.

Nicholasville, Kentucky

The City of Nicholasville, Kentucky passed a six-month moratorium on data centers, with residents at the meeting saying they wanted the pause to give both themselves and the city commission time to better understand the facilities.

Resident Nicole Merz raised concerns about rising electric bills and property taxes tied to data centers' energy use, as well as their water consumption, calling it a conservation issue for the surrounding farm community. Residents said watching data center debates play out in other parts of the country left them worried about the potential local impact.

During the six-month pause, residents said they want city commissioners to use the time to educate themselves and the broader community on the issue.

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Lincolnton, North Carolina

The Lincolnton, North Carolina City Council voted 3-1 to delay a decision on a proposed one-year moratorium on data centers at its Aug. 6 meeting, pushing the public hearing to September.

Zoning Administrator Ashley Jones had recommended the moratorium to give the city time to study data centers' development, infrastructure and environmental impacts, noting the city's current ordinance doesn't define data centers or cryptocurrency mining, creating what she called a regulatory gap; the planning board had voted 3-2 in favor of a moratorium. Mayor Ed Hatley, who lacks a vote except in a tie, suggested hiring a consulting firm and said he'd like to see a potential 12-month pause shortened to six or even three months, while City Manager Ritchie Haynes said two data centers could generate as much tax value as the entire city currently has, citing Apple's data center in nearby Maiden as a positive example for that town's tax rate.

Attorney Mark Frederick, representing Heathcote Capital LLC, urged the council to reject the moratorium, saying his client's proposed $600 million data center project at 232 Car Farm Road could generate about $2.2 million in city tax revenue, roughly equal to the budget gap Lincolnton narrowly avoided this year. Council members Kevin Demeny, Mark Johnson and Jill Tipton voted to delay the decision, while Roby Jetton voted against the postponement.

Gilroy, California

Gilroy, California residents say they had no idea an Amazon data center was being built on 56 acres of farmland between a Walmart and a local shopping center until construction had already begun, after the project moved forward under a 45-year-old zoning rule originally written for industrial development along a freeway.

One resident who tried to file a comment on the plans was told public input had closed in 2024, well before most residents learned of the project. Amazon has arranged to divert wastewater to the facility and has donated $1 million for a new city fire truck, along with contributions to local nonprofits and the Gilroy Garlic Festival. Organizer Landon Sepulveda said the approval process left citizens with no real opportunity to weigh in, and elementary school teacher Coleen Crew told a recent council meeting that most residents first learned about the project only after construction was underway.

Amazon quietly built 56-acre Gilroy data center without telling residents

Amazon exploited outdated zoning laws in Gilroy, California, to secretly begin constructing a massive data center, leaving residents unaware for five years.

NewsBytes

Mayor Greg Bozzo compared the data center to a recently approved food distribution center and described the project as an opportunity to change how the city does business, while Amazon Web Services VP Roger Wehner said the project followed standard approval processes and that the company has since met with residents and held an open house to address questions.

Cheyenne, Wyoming

The Cheyenne, Wyoming City Council voted Aug. 10 to annex and zone a 34.46-acre parcel west of the city near Roundtop Road, to be used as a staging area supporting nearby data center construction in the North Range Business Park.

Cheyenne approves 34-acre annexation for North Range data center staging area

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — In its Aug. 10 meeting, the Cheyenne City Council voted to annex and zone a 34.46-acre parcel that will be used as a staging area for

Cap City NewsGarrett Grochowski

The park already hosts a Walmart Distribution Center, the NCAR Wyoming Supercomputing Center and a Microsoft data center project, and the newly annexed land will provide parking and office trailers to support ongoing construction there, according to city documents. The annexation connects the parcel to city water and sewer service and rezones it for business park use, folding it into North Range.

Resident Heather Madrid told the council the city has been quietly annexing small parcels of county land over several years to gradually build toward a much larger business park, and said she opposes this and future annexations until the city's Unified Development Code is revised. Other speakers raised concerns about impacts on aquifers and noise.

Wrightstown, Wisconsin

Wrightstown, Wisconsin voters head to the polls Tuesday to weigh in on a nonbinding referendum about data center development in the village, with results expected to guide but not determine the village's future decisions.

Village Administrator Travis Coenen said the referendum is meant to give officials a clearer read on residents' overall feelings about data centers. Resident Sheldon Smith said the largely agricultural community, home to longtime residents and farmers, isn't looking for a data center to disrupt what's already been built there, while Cynthia Shell said she supports the village's broader push to attract industry but doesn't see a data center as the right fit. Other voters on the "yes" side told FOX 11 they worried a "no" vote could discourage future development in the village more broadly.

Real estate development firm Cloverleaf, which specializes in data center projects, has been exploring a potential Wrightstown site. The company did not directly say whether it's tracking the vote or how it might respond to a majority "no" result.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Cedar Rapids, Iowa is seeing record hotel tax revenue this year, with city officials crediting part of a 40% jump in hotel-motel tax funding to construction workers building the QTS and Google data centers in the area.

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The city collects 7% of revenue from every hotel stay, split between nonprofits and the general fund; hotel occupancy hit 68.7% this spring, up nearly 10% from 2025 and 14% since 2024, according to Cedar Rapids Tourism data. City Finance Director Abhi Deshpande said the increase is likely tied to data center construction, though the city has only one full year of data to work with so far, and expects the tax windfall to keep growing over the next five years in line with the projects' construction timelines.

Last fiscal year the hotel-motel tax brought in nearly $6 million, with about $1 million going to the city's general fund, $2 million to the city-owned ice arena and Alliant Energy Powerhouse, and the rest split among cultural and tourism organizations. One recipient, NewBo City Market, received $30,000 in 2025 to help fund 14 programming initiatives across its 22 shops, according to Executive Director Scott Wilson. The city council is set to vote on the next round of nonprofit funding recipients at its upcoming meeting.

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