BROOKSVILLE — A 365-day moratorium on data centers? Good.
A 365-day extension? Better.
A permanent ban in Hernando County? Best.
That was the consensus among residents at the Hernando County Commission’s land-use meeting June 2. Commissioners questioned whether a permanent ban would be legal but agreed with the crowd that data centers are not the kind of growth the county wants.
County Attorney Jon Jouben drafted the ordinance about a month ago at the request of Commissioner John Allocco.
“I was concerned about what I was seeing across the country with data centers,” Allocco said. “We spoke a little about the things we could or could not do. And one of the things I wanted to make sure is that they had to be self-sustaining as far as power goes to protect the consumers in the area. Unfortunately, that’s not something that can fall to the jurisdiction of county commissioners.”
Other concerns are water use and low-frequency hums like those reported in Cuba, he said; people may not hear them, but their bodies feel them.
A moratorium would let the county study the issues and craft a “quality ordinance” to protect residents, Allocco said. Jouben said that is the moratorium’s purpose, and that it can last only as long as the study requires.
“Otherwise it becomes what they call a ‘taking,’” Jouben said, “and then we would get sued for taking the rights of the property owners.”
Jouben said he wanted action at the federal level, arguing that data centers are needed to keep U.S. data out of China and Russia and should be sited away from populated areas to avoid harming residents’ health.
Data centers have deep pockets and good lawyers, Allocco added, so the county needs an “ironclad” ordinance or “we’re not going to win.” The county would have to show it was working on the ordinance during the moratorium and create specific zoning rather than rely on a subset of its C-2 zoning, he said.
With data to back the ordinance, Jouben said, the county would be better positioned to defend it in court.
Commissioner Ryan Amsler said the country needs data processing on U.S. soil and that he favored a 24-month moratorium. Jouben told Chairman Jerry Campbell the ordinance includes a provision allowing the 365-day period to be extended.
Commissioner Steve Champion said some of what data centers can do is “scary” and that constituents had asked whether the county could simply ban them. Jouben told him it could not, and that the county had to follow the process, Champion said.
Commissioner Brian Hawkins said he opposes the centers but cautioned that scale matters.
“Right now, we have data center as a ‘broad term,’” he said. “What we’re looking at are these single-source or single location, large-scale data centers. We don’t want unintended consequences for other IT equipment, things of that nature.”
The aim, commissioners said, is to make large data centers very difficult to build without sweeping in routine computing — the kind used for traffic systems, government operations and private business.
Development Services Director Omar DePablo said the zoning also would have to be added to the county’s comprehensive plan.
Hawkins said the moratorium needs to be “buttoned up” and “locked down” by the second reading.
The people speak
Speaker after speaker urged the commission to go further than a moratorium.
One resident noted that federal rules bar local governments from blocking cell towers over health concerns and worried the same could happen with data centers, which some residents blame for health problems among nearby neighbors.
Others raised national security, warning that computers, servers and other hardware for artificial intelligence centers could be made in China and compromise U.S. security.
Many framed their objections in environmental terms, saying the centers would draw water from the ground and return it to the aquifer contaminated. Several likened the low-frequency sounds to those Americans reported in Havana, saying they could cause health problems.
Residents also cited light pollution, air pollution and strain on the electrical grid, with costs passed to ordinary ratepayers.
One resident said the buildings are not “data centers” but “surveillance centers” built to track people and bring them under state control.
Asked whether the county had any data center plans, DePablo said it did not. He said three economic development proposals were under consideration, none of them data centers, and Jouben confirmed it.
Resident Amy Evans said the county had changed over the years from farmland, springs and rivers to “cookie-cutter homes,” with sharp increases in water use and contamination.
“I want a permanent ban,” she said. “You guys want a one-year moratorium, which is only going to give them the right.”
Evans warned that residents would not accept data centers and that larger crowds could turn out to protest.
No one spoke in favor of the centers.
Several residents said the commission should put residents’ well-being ahead of property owners’ rights when those rights threaten the community — even at the risk of a lawsuit.
Commission response
Campbell said the commission is not considering any data centers and wants to keep them out of Hernando County. The audience applauded.
Jouben confirmed that the county cannot weigh health concerns for cell towers but can for data centers.
“It is something that we can consider?” Allocco asked.
“Yes,” Jouben said.
After further discussion, Hawkins said the commission had reached consensus.
Campbell said the commission had made the ordinance a top priority for staff, especially the County Attorney’s Office, and wanted it back by the next land-use meeting July 7. The next regular commission meeting is June 23.
When Hawkins asked whether it could come back in the fourth week of June, Senior Planner Michelle Miller cited advertising deadlines.
Hawkins noted the state’s data center law takes effect July 1 and said the county does not want to be preempted. Jouben said the law directs the county to use comprehensive planning and zoning to regulate the centers.
“As soon as we legally can do it,” Campbell said.
The proposed 365-day moratorium ordinance begins on page 368 of the agenda packet, available at hernandocountyfl.legistar.com under the Calendar tab; select the June 2 land-use meeting.