Data Centers: Weekly Briefing // October 12 - October 15, 2026

📋 This Week's Decisions

Just Passed ✔️

Moratoriums Approved

• Oregon: Gov. Tina Kotek directed the Department of Environmental Quality to pause air and water pollution permits for new or expanding data centers until July, which effectively halts most statewide development. The directive, issued in a Friday letter to DEQ Director Leah Feldon, also stops the agency from processing city and county wastewater permit renewals or modifications for data centers and expands an earlier pause on state-owned land.
• Dover, DE: City Council unanimously approved an 18-month moratorium on data center construction, the first in Delaware. The ordinance pauses reviews of large energy-use facilities, including data centers over 30 megawatts. Councilwoman Donyale Hall introduced it, and Councilman Brian Lewis called for an outright ban. No formal application has been filed.
• Manatee County, FL: Commissioners unanimously approved a 12-month moratorium on new large-scale data center development at their Oct. 8 meeting, halting applications in the unincorporated county. Staff will use the pause to study electricity and water use, facility size and location, noise and buffering. The moratorium can be extended, and no planned projects are affected.
• Milwaukee, WI: The Common Council approved a one-year moratorium Oct. 13 on new data centers and expansions of existing ones, unanimously among the members present. The pause ends early if the council adopts new rules within 12 months; proposed rules would ban facilities over 60,000 square feet, allow those under 20,000 square feet in industrial-heavy zones and require Board of Zoning Appeals approval for sizes in between.
• Elizabeth City, NC: City Council approved an 18-month moratorium on data center development at its Monday meeting; no vote count was given. The pause gives staff time to refine Unified Development Ordinance rules and study infrastructure impacts, and the city attorney will review it for state-law compliance. No proposal is active.
• Lexington-Fayette County, KY: The Urban County Council voted to extend its data center moratorium through October 2027 and unanimously passed a zoning text amendment that bans data centers over 50,000 square feet, caps energy use at 25 megawatts, limits noise and requires community impact zoning plans. The debate stems from DartPoints' purchase of a property off New Circle Road, originally described as 81,000 square feet and up to 70 megawatts; the company's lawyer said the site is not hyperscale.
• Stephens County, GA: Commissioners unanimously extended their moratorium on data center land use applications to Jan. 14, 2027, on Oct. 13. It is the second extension of a pause that began April 14. The county has received no applications and is still drafting land use ordinance amendments.
• Millington, TN: The Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved a six-month moratorium on applications for non-grid power generation, accessory computing and industrial-scale computing facilities, effective immediately and expiring April 12 unless extended. The city says those uses aren't defined in its zoning ordinance; applications already accepted are exempt, and no data center proposal has come in.

Projects Approved

• Van Buren Township, MI: The Planning Commission voted 5-1 Wednesday to approve the final site plan for Google's data center near Detroit Metro Airport, Michigan's second hyperscale facility. Developed by Pannatoni Data Centers, the site would have six buildings and a substation across 150 of 282 acres, 1 gigawatt of demand and up to 3.6 million gallons of water per day from the Great Lakes Water Authority. The township and Wayne County agreed to half-price local taxes worth about $125 million over 12 years in exchange for $15.4 million in local infrastructure and at least 51 full-time jobs. Michigan regulators approved a 20-year DTE Energy power contract Oct. 1, and Google expects to start drawing power in late 2027.
• Mason County, KY: The Fiscal Court voted unanimously Oct. 13 to approve a development contract for a Meta hyperscale data center and technology campus. The initial investment is about $15 billion, with 2,000 construction and trade jobs and 400 permanent jobs expected, and work must begin within three years of approval. Meta would pay all property costs, bonds and materials. Judge Executive Owen McNeil called it one of the region's greatest economic opportunities.
• Lowndes County, AL: Commissioners approved development and tax agreements Tuesday with Cloverleaf Infrastructure for Project Red Clay, a proposed data center in Burkeville, despite months of public opposition. Cloverleaf CEO David Berry projected about $124 million a year in local and state taxes, roughly $70 million of it for county schools, plus 225 permanent jobs. The company says the deal limits sound and water use and that it will cover its own power costs; construction could begin as early as the first quarter of 2027.

💬 Catch Up on Discussions

• Springfield, MO: The Planning and Zoning Commission was set to consider a text amendment Oct. 15 defining data centers in the zoning code, along with extending the administrative delay on development 120 days to Feb. 24, 2027. The definition would create accessory, micro and large-load classes. City Manager David Cameron said the amendment approves no development and doesn't decide on a ban. Developer Trent Overhue is suing for a temporary restraining order, arguing the zoning at 2900 S. National Ave. allows "data processing services."
• South Bristol, NY: The Town Board holds a public hearing at 6 p.m. at Town Hall on a local law banning construction of data centers and AI computing facilities. The proposal comes during New York's year-long statewide pause on large data center construction.
• Aurora, CO: City Council was set to consider on first reading an ordinance barring data centers from certain mixed-use zoning that includes schools and assisted living facilities. It wouldn't apply retroactively, and the proposed Trident data center off 48th Avenue is exempt. Mayor Mike Coffman said he will call for a council vote on Trident regardless of litigation risk, calling it a project that "must be stopped."
• St. Cloud, MN: Staff recommend keeping the city's first data center rules as drafted, with no water use cap and no wider buffer from homes, ahead of a Planning Commission session Tuesday. Staff said widening the buffer from a quarter mile to a half mile would eliminate much of the usable land. The largest facilities would be limited to industrial zones and need a conditional use permit.
• Swatara Township, PA: Commissioners approved community benefits agreements totaling $120.3 million for two proposed data centers, Highlands West ($84.15 million) over the Dauphin Highlands Golf Course and Highlands East ($36.15 million) on Highland Street. The largest allocations are $38 million for a joint police and fire headquarters, $27 million in restricted long-term funding for roads, parks and capital reserves, and $24 million for a second public safety facility.
• Denville, NJ: The Town Council introduced an ordinance Oct. 6 to prohibit all high-intensity computing facilities, including AI data centers, crypto mining operations and "AI data nodes," mini data centers attached to homes. A public hearing is set for Nov. 11.
• Millburn Township, NJ: The Township Committee withdrew Ordinance 2770-26 at its Oct. 6 meeting, a proposed data center ban the Planning Board found inconsistent with the Master Plan. The committee says it remains committed to a prohibition but needs more review, revisions and community input.
• Iron County, UT: Commissioners discussed changes Monday to a proposed Strategic Development Zone ordinance for large data centers but took no action. Commissioner Paul Cozzens said he could back it with changes that make it less restrictive, questioning the 56 acre-foot annual water threshold. The Indian Peaks Band of Paiutes asked for more formal tribal consultation. The 180-day moratorium adopted May 26 expires Nov. 22.
• Mount Pleasant, SC: Town Council was expected to hold the final reading Tuesday on Ordinance No. 26045, a 120-day moratorium on data center applications and permits that could be extended by resolution. A social post the next day reported a pause on data center development in the town.
• Charlevoix, MI: The Planning Commission made no decisions Monday night on proposed data center and noise ordinances, and members hope to hold a public meeting in December. The city has no developer proposal.
• Emporia, KS: The city filed its answer Oct. 7 in Lyon County District Court to a lawsuit challenging its data center overlay zoning, asking for judgment in its favor. Landowners sued Aug. 19 over three applications the City Commission approved July 22, arguing the overlay was approved before its ordinance took effect. The city says the plaintiffs lack standing, and no ruling or hearing date has been set.
• Pataskala, OH: Voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to amend the city charter to ban construction of large data centers, defined as 25 megawatts or more of monthly demand. A citizen petition put the question on the ballot. City Council voted in late August against an Aligned data center proposal, and Aligned has asked a judge to review the denial.
• Martin County, FL: Commissioners advanced a one-year moratorium on new large-scale data center applications in unincorporated areas at the first of two hearings. Nearly a dozen speakers all supported it, and staff said no applications are pending.
• Denver, CO: A 26-member working group chosen from more than 250 applicants has begun meeting to develop policy recommendations, following the City Council's unanimous approval of a one-year construction moratorium.
• Rogersville, TN: The Board of Mayor and Aldermen passed a data center ordinance on first reading, 4-2. It would allow data centers only in the industrial district and set development standards; today they are allowed without restriction. Final action is expected in November. Alderman Todd Biggs raised water concerns, and Vice Mayor Brady Forgety favors a ban but suggested a moratorium first. Mayor John Metz opposed a moratorium, arguing it would only delay work already done.
• Fort Wayne, IN: City Council defeated a proposed one-year moratorium 4-4 and rejected a resolution creating a data center task force, 5-3, after Michelle Chambers switched her vote from Sept. 22. Councilwoman Rohli Booker led the effort after more than a year of controversy over Google's southeast Fort Wayne campus. The moratorium would have paused rezoning, annexations and tax abatements for large data centers but not Google's operating campus.
• Hubbard Township, OH: Trustees heard from a packed room Tuesday on a proposed nine-page resolution setting rules for data center developers, and took no vote on a Trumbull County Zoning Commission recommendation that would prohibit them in residential, agricultural, conservation and flood plain districts. Residents opposed data centers outright, citing water pollution concerns including PFAS.
• Johnson County, IA: Supervisors will vote next week on a nine-month extension of the data center moratorium, which expires Nov. 8, carrying the pause into 2027. No supervisors have expressed support for a data center in the county.
• Virginia: State Sen. Russet Perry proposed Senate Bill 843, a three-year statewide data center moratorium that would bar state agencies from approving data center planning applications starting July 1, 2027. Gov. Abigail Spanberger has not backed a moratorium; last month she introduced a Data Center Accountability Framework that bans nondisclosure agreements for new projects and calls for noise rules.
• Broward County, FL: Commissioner Lamar Fisher asked the county to draft an ordinance for a one-year moratorium on large-scale data centers in unincorporated areas. The item is on Tuesday's commission agenda. Palm Beach, Leon, Martin and Manatee counties have already adopted temporary pauses.
• Lake County, FL: Commissioners voted 3-2 on Oct. 13 to postpone authorizing a public hearing on proposed large-scale data center rules, and asked staff to draft a 90-day extension of the moratorium that expires in December. The two required public hearings were pushed to mid-November and early December.
• Concord Township, PA: The township closed its public hearing on a data center ordinance Wednesday night, and council could adopt it Nov. 4. Data centers would be a conditional use only in the L-I district on lots of at least 12 acres, with power drawn only from a regional utility and diesel generators limited to backup use.
• Rutherford County, TN: The Regional Planning Commission voted unanimously Oct. 12 to recommend a 12-month moratorium on new data center development, which now moves to county officials. Residents largely supported the pause and some asked for a permanent ban, while Commissioner Michael Shirley questioned its value.
• Guilford County, NC: Commissioners were set to consider a 180-day moratorium on data center applications and approvals Thursday, which would run until April 12, 2027 if adopted. Surry and Davie counties, Greensboro and Mount Airy already have moratoriums, and Davidson County will consider one next week.

📅 Upcoming Meetings

• Memphis, TN: City Council final decision on its moratorium after twice delaying the vote, Oct. 20.
• Broward County, FL: Commission agenda item on drafting a one-year moratorium, Oct. 20.
• Johnson County, IA: Supervisors vote on a nine-month moratorium extension, next week.
• Springfield, MO: City Council hearing on the data center definition, Oct. 26; extension vote, Nov. 16.
• Iron County, UT: Commission meetings on the Strategic Development Zone ordinance, Oct. 26 and Nov. 9.
• Martin County, FL: Final approval hearing on the one-year moratorium, Oct. 27.
• Hubbard Township, OH: Hearing on the proposed resolution, Oct. 27.
• Lake County, FL: Next regular commission meeting, Oct. 27.
• Denver, CO: Next data center working group meeting, Oct. 29.
• Pataskala, OH: Ballot vote on a charter amendment banning large data centers, Nov. 3.
• Concord Township, PA: Possible council adoption of the data center ordinance, Nov. 4.
• Denville, NJ: Public hearing on the proposed ban, Nov. 11.

👀 In case you missed it...

Understanding Data Center Permitting

Identify the key players involved in data center permitting and understand the challenges and strategies for on-time submission of requirements.

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Data Center Rezoning: Reasons, Factors, and Process

Discover what data center rezoning is, why developers and local governments pursue it, what factors contribute to the decisions, and how the process goes from applications to final decisions.

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☀️ Most Clicked Link

Township vote paves way for Michigan’s second hyperscale data center - Bridge Michigan

The Van Buren Township Planning Commission approved a site plan for Google’s proposed facility near the Detroit airport — the last major permitting hurdle to the 1-gigawatt facility’s construction.

Bridge MichiganKelly House

Township vote paves way for Michigan’s second hyperscale data center

📱 Social Buzz

Episode Title: A.I. and Energy with American Enterprise Institute Scholar Shane Tews

Episode: Fort Worth Freedom Network

Listen: https://rss.com/podcasts/freedom-for-all-ltd/3238037

Social Listening📱: Facebook

Where do neighbors, community groups, and local officials go to express their concerns? On Facebook. Strisker's Facebook Signal monitors public pages and community discussions to identify proposed ordinances, zoning disputes, and upcoming hearings, all of which can be filtered by location.

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