NEW PORT RICHEY – Pasco County commissioners are scheduled to discuss approving a moratorium on data centers on July 14.
Commissioners received a presentation from staff, listened to more than an hour of public comment and discussed the issue during the board’s June 16 meeting.
“This is something that we feel strongly about,” Chairman Jack Mariano said. “I think we’ve anticipated it well. We’ve listened to a lot of feedback from citizens. We’ve also got a lot of other emails from other sources as well.”
The ordinance would impose a 12-month moratorium on accepting development applications for data centers, large-scale data centers and other large load customers within unincorporated Pasco County. This would include building permits, site plans, rezonings and comprehensive plan amendments.
The moratorium would give county staff time to research the impact data centers would have on the community and develop regulations.
“The proposed moratorium would likely result in a number of potential revisions to the land development code to regulate data centers within Pasco County,” said Amandla Hill, of Pasco County Planning, Development and Economic Growth. “Existing conditions within our code do not specify data centers as a use within any zoning district, nor are there any standards that would regulate such a use.”
The moratorium wouldn’t apply to a server or computer room used to house IT or network equipment that are incidental to a site’s primary use. The ordinance specifies that the board may deem it public necessity to amend or adopt a development agreement for a data center that isn’t a large load customer. The data center would have to meet conditions that address things like water use, energy consumption, noise and other factors.
“Sounds a little loose,” Commissioner Seth Weightman told staff. “I’m not so sure for the 12 months that that’s the catch-all language.”
Weightman and other commissioners were concerned about applicants finding loopholes within the moratorium ordinance.
Commissioner Lisa Yeager threw out the idea of someone slipping a project through for a data hub or colocation facility.
“If it meets the definition that you put in your ordinance, they can’t get it through no matter what the name,” County Attorney Jeffrey Steinsnyder advised. “Even if they try and call it something else.”
Commissioner Jack Mariano left the discussion comfortable that the language of the ordinance, specifically “data center” and “large-scale data center,” was all-encompassing.
“We’ve got everything blocked, so we’re in control,” he said.
