Data Centers: Weekly Briefing // October 26 - October 29, 2026

📋 This Week's Decisions

Moratoriums Approved

• Pittsburg, California: The City Council unanimously adopted a 45-day moratorium on new data centers, taking effect immediately and targeting the next two phases of the Avaio project at the former Delta View Golf Course. The first phase, approved in 2024, isn't affected. About two dozen demonstrators protested outside City Hall over health risks and the project's closeness to homes, schools and a church.

Regulations Passed

• Kirksville, Missouri: The council unanimously approved zoning amendments limiting data centers to the M-2 district, with size and noise limits, a 500-foot residential setback and a special use permit requirement. Mayor Zac Burden said the rules are strict enough that a data center is unlikely to locate there. No proposals have been submitted.
• Fayetteville, North Carolina: The City Council voted 6-4 to approve revised data center regulations adding standards for noise, utilities, lighting and air quality, a 24-hour contact person, and conditional rezoning for case-by-case review. The rules won't take effect until after a public hearing on a proposed moratorium, which the council scheduled 6-4 on Oct. 19 but hasn't dated.
• Jefferson County, Georgia: The County Commission passed a technology zoning ordinance covering data centers despite residents who said it doesn't protect neighbors enough. No land is zoned for the new district yet, so any data center would need a full rezoning with multiple public meetings.
• Charles County, Maryland: The Planning Commission unanimously approved changes to its design review process that residents feared would ease data centers in the St. Charles planned unit development. Officials say the update has no connection to data centers and only simplifies approvals for minor projects like sheds, decks and fences.

Projects Approved

• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: The City Council voted 6-3 on Oct. 27 to approve zoning for Beltline Energy's data center in far west Oklahoma City, the city's first mega-data center. Conditions include a 75,000-gallon daily water cap with no treated water for cooling, noise at or below 55 decibels, weekday-only generator testing and a decommissioning plan for each building. Beltline was allowed to seek zoning during the yearlong moratorium because it applied before the freeze.
• Glendale, Arizona: The City Council approved annexing and rezoning land at Litchfield Road and Olive Avenue for Project Eagle, a $36 billion, 160-acre data center about 2 miles from Luke Air Force Base's front entrance with about 700 MW of natural gas generators. Construction is set to start next month, with the first building opening in 2028.
• Salem Township, Pennsylvania: Supervisors approved expanding the data center overlay district by more than 3,000 acres, including for Glennbrook Group's $1.4 billion Salem 3 and about 185 acres for Moores 109 LLC's Salem 4. Separately, residents have sued the township over alleged Sunshine Act violations at a July 23 planning commission meeting.

Projects Denied/Withdrawn

• DeSoto County, Florida: The County Commission deadlocked 2-2 on DCIP Group's request to rezone about 238 acres for a hyperscale data center, so the request failed after a six-hour meeting. The company has sought about 826 acres in total for natural gas-powered data centers near Arcadia, and commissioners were set to take up a second application on Oct. 28.
• Natrona County, Wyoming: Prometheus Hyperscale abruptly withdrew from the 1.5-gigawatt Falls Ranch campus, but the project will continue under a new development company. Neighbors along Hat Six Road and Meadow Acres have raised generator noise, light pollution, emissions and truck traffic.

Moratoriums Rejected

• Davidson County, North Carolina: Commissioners rejected a moratorium for the second time, after turning down a six-month pause in August, and instead approved text amendments covering standards, special uses and where data centers are allowed. The ordinance now goes to the county's legal team.

In Court

• Frederick County, Maryland: A judge denied Quantum Maryland's request for a temporary restraining order against County Executive Jessica Fitzwater's moratorium, finding no clear showing of immediate, irreparable harm. Quantum says the pause cost it a real estate deal near Adamstown worth at least $500 million. The moratorium runs to July 1, 2027.
• Ascension Parish, Louisiana: The parish council approved a 90-day moratorium on Oct. 26 without objection, near the end of a nearly three-and-a-half-hour meeting in Gonzales. Parish President Clint Cointment said the council could extend it early next year or pursue other solutions.
• Georgetown, Kentucky: The council unanimously extended its moratorium through June 30, 2027, its second extension, and has started drafting legislation to ban hyperscale data centers citywide. Mayor Burney Jenkins said a full ban could be hard to enact, so the extra time lets the city build restrictions as a fallback.
• Vienna Township, Ohio: Trustees extended the moratorium by 180 days, its third renewal, over Trustee Phil Pegg's objection, and sent proposed zoning rules back for changes. Residents flagged utility funding language that could pass power generation costs to the township. The revisions must clear the zoning board and planning commission, which Trustee Michael Haddle estimated will take three to four months.

💬 Catch Up on Discussions

State Debates

• South Carolina: Lawmakers are gearing up for a data center debate in the 2027 session. Sen. Tom Davis is drafting a bill requiring closed-loop cooling, encouraging on-site power and restricting where data centers can go, while keeping local governments central to approvals. Sen. Russell Ott said lawmakers could also require disclosure of projected energy and water use.

Moratoriums on the Table

• San Diego, California: The City Council was set to vote this week on a 45-day emergency moratorium on new data centers and expansions, as the NAVWAR site emerged as a possible location for California's largest data center. Mayor Todd Gloria has also signed an executive order freezing data center construction.
• Aurora, Colorado: Mayor Mike Coffman rejected Vantage's offer to consider moving its Trident data center farther from homes in exchange for a 90-day pause on new rules. The council was set to vote Monday on an indefinite moratorium, which needs seven votes because a prior attempt failed, and wouldn't affect the already-approved Trident.
• Springfield, Missouri: The council held public hearings on extending its administrative delay to February and adding three data center definitions: accessory (under 1 MW), large load (5 MW or more, or over 10,000 square feet) and micro. The current delay expires Nov. 17.

Zoning and Rules in the Works

• Pima County, Arizona: The Planning and Zoning Commission voted 8-1 to advance ordinance amendments that would require a Type 3 conditional use permit in the CI-2 heavy industrial zone, about 2% of county land, conditioned on staff tightening monitoring, noise, water limits and the data center definition. Nearly 2,000 survey responses shaped the proposal.
• Oro Valley, Arizona: The town is moving to ban data centers using 20 MW or more, allowing only ancillary ones like server rooms, each with a council-approved conditional use permit. A staff report says it would be the only one of 13 Arizona jurisdictions researched to prohibit large-scale data centers.
• Gilbert, Arizona: The Town Council postponed action on data center rules and sent them back to staff, with Councilman Kenny Buckland the only vote against the delay. The proposal would ban open-loop evaporative cooling, require a 650-foot residential setback and bar potable water for cooling at principal data centers.
• Arlington, Texas: Staff proposed data center ordinances allowing stand-alone facilities only in industrial districts with a specific use permit or in planned development districts. Standards include a 300-foot setback from homes, a 75-foot height limit and no evaporative cooling.
• Hutchinson, Kansas: The city is drafting rules before any proposal arrives, including water-efficient cooling and noise caps of 60 decibels by day and 50 at night at the property line.
• Harmony, Minnesota: The Planning and Zoning Commission approved a draft ordinance, now in its sixth draft, after a hearing where all but one of about 20 speakers voiced reservations. No project has been announced.
• Fulton County, Indiana: The Area Plan Commission presented a nine-page draft requiring large or hyperscale data centers to sit at least 1,500 feet from churches, schools, hospitals and nursing homes.
• Luzerne County, Pennsylvania: County Council began discussing a zoning ordinance for the 19 municipalities that use county zoning, the first of two work sessions. It would require special exception approval from the Zoning Hearing Board for every data center request.
• Hubbard Township, Ohio: Trustees rejected the zoning commission's proposed regulations, keeping the moratorium in place and sending the rules back for tighter language. Township counsel said the township couldn't keep its moratorium and adopt zoning rules at the same time.
• Palm Beach County, Florida: Commissioners voted 4-1 against spending nearly $225,000 on a consultant to write data center rules, even as "Project Tango" advances administratively. PBA Holdings won preliminary approval Oct. 7 to nearly triple the data center's footprint under a 2016 master plan, despite a 5-1 commission rejection in July.

Projects Under Review

• Ashville, Ohio: Voters decide Nov. 3 whether to repeal the village's Development and Supply Agreement with EdgeConneX, which exempts its two data centers under construction from the village moratorium. Repeal wouldn't halt construction, and administrators expect EdgeConneX to proceed regardless.
• Chesterfield County, Virginia: The county hosted a community forum on Oct. 27 after receiving hundreds of questions and comments, with Google, Chirisa and Dominion Energy set to take part.
• Chatham County, North Carolina: Residents and the Haw River Assembly are calling for a two-year statewide moratorium. The county's own February moratorium hasn't stopped Eco TIP West's 750 MW data center near Moncure, after a judge ruled for the developer in September.

📅 Upcoming Meetings

• Ashville, Ohio: Referendum on the EdgeConneX agreement, Nov. 3.
• Frederick County, Maryland: Status hearing on Quantum's preliminary injunction motion, Nov. 10.
• Harmony, Minnesota: City Council takes up the draft ordinance, Nov. 10.
• Hutchinson, Kansas: Planning Commission public hearing Nov. 10; City Council expected Dec. 1.
• Springfield, Missouri: Council votes on the delay extension and definitions, Nov. 16.
• Palm Beach County, Florida: Commission revisits consultants and an advisory group, Nov. 18.
• Pima County, Arizona: Revised proposal goes to the Board of Supervisors, early December.
• Gilbert, Arizona: Revised rules due back to council, Dec. 15.
• Ascension Parish, Louisiana: Moratorium returns to the council, Jan. 21, 2027.

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