Santa Rosa County Commissioners voted June 22 to join a growing list of local governments statewide in moving to place a moratorium on the development of data centers.
With Commission Chairman Colten Wright absent from the Monday regular meeting, the vote was 3-1 in favor of directing staff to draw up an ordinance that would place a 12-month hold on any discussion, processing or development review of data center facilities in unincorporated Santa Rosa.
Public hearings will be held on the issue before the board can vote to approve or deny the wording of the moratorium.
Commissioner Ray Eddington cast the single vote against establishing the moratorium. He, like the majority of the members of the public who addressed the proposal, said he favored permanently preventing data centers from locating in the county.
“This seems like a minimal effort at best,” District 2 Commission candidate Jeff Snow said of the year-long moratorium.
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.”
The act “provides for relief” when a new law, regulation or ordinance “unfairly affects real property.”
County Attorney Tom Dannheisser said moratoriums can extend past a year, but such a drastic measure as a permanent ban would be hard to legally defend without the proper rationale being laid out in county ordinance.
Smith said that implementing the permanent ban without first issuing a moratorium to provide time for analysis of data centers and potential impacts on the county would be “the nuclear option.”
“I just want staff to have the ability and freedom to look into this for the next 12 months,” he said.
Escambia County is also considering an ordinance to ban data centers and the Walton County and Wakulla County commissions have already approved language prohibiting large load centers and data centers.
Clay County, Nassau County and Hernando County are among Florida’s local governments that have either adopted or are in the process of implementing temporary moratoriums similar to those being considered by Santa Rosa County, according to information attached with the County Commission’s June 22 agenda.
The language contained in the temporary bans (in other counties) “could serve as useful models for the board to consider,” staff reported.
Tom McLaughlin covers Santa Rosa County, environmental stories, development and does investigative reporting.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Santa Rosa to put temporary moratorium on data centers
Reporting by Tom McLaughlin, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
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By Tom McLaughlin, Pensacola News Journal | USA TODAY Network
