Resisting calls for a permanent ban on allowing data center construction in the county, Santa Rosa County Commissioners on July 9 will hold the first of two public hearings required before adoption of a 12-month moratorium on any type of development activity related to such large load customer facilities.
Unless it reconsiders acting on the moratorium, the County Commission will embark on a course of action different from plans being considered in Escambia County and already on the books in Walton County. Walton County has voted to impose a permanent ban and Escambia County commissioners are considering a complete ban as well.
“If our two neighboring counties are banning data centers permanently, why aren’t we?” resident Bill Cody, who introduced himself as a tech executive,” asked board members at the July 7 meeting.
According to mid-June reporting by USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida, more than a dozen Florida cities or counties are considering bans. That report was filed before Walton County acted and Escambia County and Santa Rosa County began mulling action.
Language drawn up by Santa Rosa staff preparing the ordinance establishing the moratorium focuses heavily on the county’s groundwater resources and the “significant management and conservation efforts” required to protect the aquifers utilized for potable water from saltwater intrusion “and long-term sustainability concerns.”
USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida cited several studies estimating a big data center can consume up to 5 million gallons of water per day to cool the equipment. It said a resource drain of that magnitude would compete with other municipal uses like homes, businesses and agriculture.
“Santa Rosa’s proximity to sensitive coastal ecosystems, wetlands, estuarine systems, and maritime forests underscores the importance of ensuring that new forms of industrial-scale development are evaluated carefully and responsibly,” the moratorium language states.
The one-year moratorium, the ordinance says, is necessary to give the county time to study, issue and prepare amendments that might be necessary to its comprehensive plan and Land Development Code.
Cody, of Gulf Breeze, labeled a 12-month moratorium unnecessary and called for “a complete and total ban.”
County Commissioner Kerry Smith, who brought the data center proposal to the commission, said that the moratorium is the safest way to go because creating a permanent ban risks legal action taken under the Bert J. Harris Act.
Passed originally in 1995, Bert Harris, as it is commonly referred to, “recognizes that some laws, regulations and ordinances of the state and political entities of the state … may inordinately burden, restrict or limit private property rights.”
County Attorney Tom Dannheisser said moratoriums can extend past a year, but a permanent ban would be hard to legally defend without the proper rationale being laid out in county ordinance.
Cody called the Bert J. Harris Act, along with SB 484, which portends to give local governments planning and land development authority over large load customers, “scare tactics.”
Despite the downside, the need for data centers has grown alongside the demand for all things artificial intelligence. Speaker John Syzmoniak, a Milton resident, said that need is not going away, and the U.S. can’t afford to turn its back on the technology of AI.
“We need these data centers, that’s a fact,” Syzmoniak said, before adding “this county could not support a data center.”
Both Cody and Syzmoniak cited a lack of trust that local officials could be counted on to do the right thing had driven many to call for transparency and stiffer oversight of efforts to introduce data centers to locations in Florida.
“I encourage citizens to keep a close eye on the comprehensive plan and the Zoning Board for local land use regulations for any changes that would benefit large scale data center construction,” Cody said.
“We’re not sure we can trust this county to represent us,” added Syzmoniak.
The July 9 public hearing starts at 8:30 a.m. at the Administrative Complex in Milton. A second hearing will be held at 5 p.m. July 23.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Data center moratorium in Santa Rosa County up for debate on Thursday
Reporting by Tom McLaughlin, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Tom McLaughlin, Pensacola News Journal | USA TODAY Network
