Data Centers | March 19, 2026
Detroit Michigan council votes to push for a two-year data center moratorium; Scranton Pennsylvania proactively introduces zoning rules with no project even on the table. READ MORE.
At A Glance 🔽
- Detroit, MI council votes to urge a two-year moratorium on data center permits; mayor's office reviewing the request.
- Scranton, PA council unanimously introduces two data center zoning ordinances despite no active proposals in the city.
- Columbus, GA planning commission votes to recommend a technology overlay district with a 500-foot setback, up from 75 feet.
- Adair County, IA supervisors approve an open-ended moratorium on data centers, computing facilities, and battery storage.
- Mason City, IA council approves second reading to rezone land for industrial use that could host a data center.
- West Penn Township, PA tables its draft data center ordinance for a second straight month; revised draft expected in April.
- New Castle County, DE executive signs data center ordinance into law after unanimous council vote.
DETROIT, Michigan
Detroit's City Council pushed forward Tuesday to urge Mayor Mary Sheffield to impose a two-year moratorium on data center development in the city. The resolution asks city departments to halt all new data center permits while officials study grid stability, water consumption, noise, economic impact, and land use.
Page 966-967 of City Council Formal Session Tuesday, March 17, 2026
The mayor's office said Sheffield would fully vet the request upon receiving an official copy. Detroit's zoning ordinance currently has no regulations for data centers.
SCRANTON, Pennsylvania
Scranton City Council voted last Tuesday to introduce a pair of ordinances regulating data centers, even though no data center has been proposed in the city. The legislation amends the city's 2023 zoning code to define data center types and create a "Technology and Energy Overlay" district.
One ordinance adds definitions for hyperscale, moderate-impact, and micro-scale data centers, along with standards for power systems, emergency management, and required impact studies. The other establishes the overlay district, with boundaries still to be determined. Council tabled both ordinances pending a public hearing. The rules take effect immediately as pending ordinances under the city's March 12 public notice.
COLUMBUS, Georgia
Dane Artisola
Columbus GA was featured in the February 25 daily notes when City Council heard the pitch for the $5.18 billion, 900-acre campus. The Planning Advisory Commission took up the regulatory framework this week.
Columbus's Planning Advisory Commission voted to recommend a technology overlay district ordinance for data centers, increasing the proposed setback from 75 feet to 500 feet.
The PAC also voted to recommend that City Council and the mayor create a separate oversight board to review every proposed data center with input from professionals in areas like water, power, and archeology. The rezoning request for the roughly 900-acre Project Ruby site in northeastern Muscogee County has not yet come before the commission; that step is expected later.
ADAIR COUNTY, Iowa
Adair County's Board of Supervisors approved a temporary moratorium on data centers, high-density computing facilities, and battery storage facilities in unincorporated areas of the county.
The moratorium has no set expiration date, remaining in effect until the board either imposes a permanent moratorium or rescinds it.
Please note minutes of the meeting is not available at the moment.
MASON, Iowa
Mason City Council approved the second reading of a zoning change that would convert agricultural and mixed-use land on the southwest side of the city into an Open Industrial district.
Two entities, RCK Properties LLC and Indianhead Farms Inc., submitted the rezoning requests. Residents raised concerns about stormwater, traffic, noise, and light pollution affecting the nearby Midland Heights neighborhood. Developers offered voluntary conditions including a 1,000-foot setback from homes and vegetative buffers of 15 to 25 feet. The rezoning still requires a final council vote.
WEST PENN TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania
West Penn Township supervisors tabled their draft data center ordinance for a second consecutive month, as this time because Supervisor Tom Ackerman was not in attendance. The board reviewed comments from the township planning commission but held off on advancing the measure.
Township solicitor Paul J. Datte said he plans to circulate a revised draft before the board's first meeting in April. The ordinance would permit data centers in industrial districts with a special exception and uses an overlay district approach. Datte noted the township has limited industrial-zoned land large enough for data centers, which typically require 30 to 50 acres.
NEW CASTLE COUNTY, Delaware
Dane Artisola
New Castle County was featured in the March 11 daily notes when County Council passed Ordinance 25-101 in a 12-0 vote. The ordinance has now been signed into law.
New Castle County Executive Marcus Henry signed the data center ordinance into law, making official the rules that County Council passed unanimously. The ordinance establishes limits on where and how data centers can build in the county.
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