DOWNTOWN TALLAHASSEE, FL — Leon County Chairman Christian Caban is calling for a one-year pause on large-scale data center development in the county. The Tallahassee City Commission rejected a similar motion in a 3-2 vote Wednesday, with opposing commissioners pointing to current city land code they say already prevents the construction of these facilities.
WATCH THE FULL REPORT BELOW:
City Manager Reese Goad said the city's existing regulations make data centers impossible to build within Tallahassee's limits.
"Local law does not allow for data centers. They cannot exist in Tallahassee today based on the comp plan and land use ordinances," Goad said.
But City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow, who raised the motion, is not confident in that interpretation of the code.
"I mean, that's just incorrect. Our land code doesn't define data centers at all. And when you look across the country, they're putting them in anywhere that's zoned industrial or mid-size industrial. We do have those zonings," Matlow said.
An email from the City Planning department last year noted that zoning and land regulations would "need to be amended at the commissions' direction."
Caban said the county's proposed moratorium is not about opposing technology or innovation, but about planning.
"The purpose of the moratorium was literally to tell these big companies and these data centers that listen, Leon County right now is not for sale," Caban said.
He said key questions still need answers before any large-scale development moves forward.
"How is this going to affect our water supply? How is this going to affect our power grid? What infrastructure do we need?" Caban said.
Environmentalists share those concerns. Kim Ross with Rethink Energy Florida said data centers raise serious questions about energy and water consumption.
"Couple that with what seems to be kind of an air of secrecy, right? We don't hear about data centers until they're already being built oftentimes. Neighborhoods don't have any say in," Ross said.
According to the Data Center Map website, there are currently four data centers in Leon County. The proposed moratorium would crack down on the "approval of any data center developments" and "power generation projects" that would serve as future data center operations.
A study from Pew Research Center shows data centers can bring jobs to an area and boost the local economy.
At the State level, the governor recently signed a bill protecting Floridians from the impacts of data centers, giving local governments authority over land use.
"This makes sure local governments are ultimately in control about how their communities are developing, via these hyper scale data centers," DeSantis said.
The county commission will receive an agenda item at their next meeting about the moratorium, where more details about what the moratorium can do are expected to emerge.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Want to see more local news? Visit the WTXL ABC 27 Website.
Stay in touch with us anywhere, anytime.
