Data Centers: Daily Notes | June 30, 2026
Moratoriums land in Clay and York County, Nashville's mayor reaches for eminent domain, and a Texas land fight puts a $80M price tag on 800 rural acres.
At A Glance 🔽
- Clay, NY adopts a one-year data center moratorium alongside a new battery storage law.
- York County, SC passes a nine-month moratorium, same night it approves a $1.5B biopharma deal.
- Nashville mayor files condemnation legislation to seize the DC Blox site near the zoo by eminent domain.
- Sparta, NJ prohibits data centers under Ordinance 26-11.
- Hill County, TX developer offers $80M for 800+ acres, about 14 times the appraised value.
- Nelson County, KY officials reject hyperscale data centers and prepare a countywide moratorium.
- Richmond County, NC sets a July 30 hearing on air permits for Amazon and Duke's $10B campus with 1,600 MW of diesel.
- Rockford, IL delays its TIF vote tied to a Monarch Energy data center site to July 20.
- Osawatomie, KS data center developer faces a nuisance investigation over a dilapidated building it owns.
- Marana, AZ rezoning for an 800-acre data center project is "far from a done deal".
Clay, New York
The Clay Town Board adopted a one-year moratorium on data centers on Monday, pairing it with a new law governing battery energy storage systems after months of hearings and revisions.
The moratorium pauses applications for zone changes and special permits tied to large-scale data centers, AI computing facilities, cryptocurrency mining and similar uses. Officials wanted time to study how such facilities should be regulated while no data centers have been proposed in the city yet. The battery storage law, by contrast, sets rules rather than a pause: it limits larger facilities to industrial zones, requires site-plan review and public hearings, mandates emergency response plans, and imposes setbacks from homes.
The actions come as Clay prepares for growth tied to Micron's planned semiconductor campus. The board scheduled a July 7 hearing on a separate law that would authorize community host agreements for large-scale development.
York County, South Carolina
York County Council advanced a nine-month data center moratorium during a special meeting Monday evening, the same night it approved a $1.5 billion biopharmaceutical incentive deal.
The moratorium, passed on second reading, halts special exceptions, conditional use approvals, site plan acceptances and other development approvals for data centers in unincorporated York County while the county studies impacts on resources, neighboring properties and infrastructure. The ordinance allows for an extension if the county needs more time. A public hearing is set for July 13.
The other headline item, identified as "Project Palmetto Rock", is a $1.5 billion investment from a global biopharmaceutical company planning a headquarters and manufacturing facility expected to create more than 1,200 high-wage jobs. Council passed its second reading after roughly two hours of public testimony.
Nashville, Tennessee
Mayor Freddie O'Connell filed condemnation legislation to block a DC Blox data center near the Nashville Zoo, moving to take the property by eminent domain.
On Youtube: Mayor O'Connell Files Condemnation Legislation | Office of Mayor Freddie O'Connell
Press: Mayor Freddie O’Connell issues statement on condemnation legislation
O'Connell said Metro has a "legitimate need" for the site and remains concerned about the proposed use. In Tennessee, eminent domain requires a public use and just compensation to the owner. Permits for the AI data center are still awaiting approval, and the zoo and community members have pushed hard against it. An online petition opposing the project has drawn more than 180,000 signatures.
The Metro Council is separately weighing rules that would bar new data centers near schools, churches and zoos in Davidson County, cap the largest "campus" facilities at 500,000 square feet or 100 megawatts, and require a half-mile buffer from transit corridors. Davidson County currently has 12 data centers: nine operating, one under construction and two planned.
Sparta, New Jersey
Sparta Township Council voted to prohibit data centers through Ordinance 26-11. Councilman Neill Clark said the council first looked at a matrix based on water usage, electricity and noise but found it unworkable, opting for a broader prohibition instead. The ordinance targets the largest facilities while aiming to leave room for smaller and medium-sized businesses. Councilwoman Marjy Murphy noted an existing "little data center" in White Deer Plaza that has caused no problems.
One resident, Nate Rogoff, agreed with the intent but called the definition "sloppy" and pushed for a size threshold. Clark said the rules could be revisited as technology and economics shift.
Hill County, Texas
A developer has offered more than $80 million for over 800 acres of rural Hill County land, roughly 14 times the appraised value, for a proposed data center site.
In a lawsuit filed against Hill County, Texas developer RCM Hill describes four contracts signed between April 2025 and January 2026 with four landowners for contiguous parcels it calls the "Aquila Site". The land was appraised at $7,100 an acre, but the offer values it at about $100,000 an acre. Research economist Lynn Krebs said money on that scale can be life-changing for farm families, and that he has heard of similar deals across the state over the past 18 months.
County appraisals have climbed from about $3,800 an acre in 2020 to roughly $8,000 in 2025, with energy and AI-related areas seeing sharper local spikes.
Nelson County, Kentucky
Nelson County and Bardstown officials said hyperscale data centers are not welcome, and are preparing a countywide moratorium as residents press for regulations.
In a joint statement, the City of Bardstown, County Judge-Executive Tim Hutchins and the Bardstown Industrial Development Corporation said hyperscale facilities do not fit the rural character of the county and that leadership is preparing a moratorium to prohibit them countywide. The debate intensified after the city and county announced the purchase of 527 acres off Pennebaker Boulevard for a future industrial park. Officials stressed no data center has been proposed for that site.
Richmond County, North Carolina
State regulators are drafting air permits for a $10 billion Amazon and Duke Energy data center campus in Hamlet, with a public hearing set for July 30.
The Energy Way Tech campus would include 21 buildings supported by 1,600 megawatts of diesel generation. Duke Energy plans to build 57 new diesel generators on Amazon's property to operate for one year while Amazon builds its backup power supply. The generators would emit between 100 and 250 tons of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds annually.
The site sits in a census tract the state Department of Environmental Quality flags as potentially disadvantaged and that the CDC Social Vulnerability Index considers "highly burdened". Regulators said the facility would be a "minor source" of hazardous air pollutants.
The hearing is at the Old Richmond County Courthouse in Rockingham, and the comment period ends July 31.
Rockford, Illinois
Rockford aldermen delayed a vote on a proposed tax increment finance district on the city's south end Monday, pushing the decision to July 20.
Alderwoman Gina Meeks moved to delay under the council's two-aldermen rule, saying she wanted staff time to review protections other non-home-rule communities have considered for data centers and industrial development. The proposed TIF has drawn attention because its boundaries include land along Edson and Friday roads that Monarch Energy has been preparing for a potential data center. The vote would not approve or reject that project; Monarch could proceed without the TIF or decline to build even if it passes.
A key project in the district comes from Venture One Real Estate, which wants to develop a roughly 166-acre business park and says it needs TIF reimbursements for infrastructure. Residents opposed to the data center rallied outside City Hall before the meeting.
Osawatomie, Kansas
The developer behind a billion-dollar Osawatomie data center proposal is under investigation after neighbors petitioned over a dilapidated building the company owns.
Public records show Alcove Development, the firm behind the project, owns the old Swenson Schoolhouse. Neighbors signed a petition calling for a nuisance and dangerous buildings investigation, citing broken windows, shards of glass and open doors. Half the building was boarded up last week. Alcove said it bought the property to build affordable senior housing but had two applications for state housing tax credits denied, and that it is securing and maintaining the site while exploring options.
The city had contacted Alcove about the property before the complaint was filed. Project opponents say the building's condition reinforces doubts about the developer's ability to handle a far larger facility.
Marana, Arizona
A proposal to rezone more than 800 acres for a project including a data center is "far from a done deal", Marana's town manager said, as neighbors push back.
The rezoning covers land off West Trico Marana Road south of Interstate 10, where a developer wants to build a technology campus, residential units and a data center. Marana bars data centers from using drinking water for cooling, and developer Randy Bury wrote that the user would buy an estimated 50 acre-feet of water from the Cortaro Marana Irrigation District for a closed-loop system.
Tucson Electric Power, Southwest Gas and the Northwest Fire District are not objecting. The application, submitted in November 2025, is still with town staff and has not yet reached the public hearing stage. Town Manager Terry Rozema said most proposals never come to fruition.
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