Volusia County Begins Process to Ban Data Centers

While many communities are moving to enact moratoriums on the building of data centers, Volusia County is looking to ban them outright.

At a meeting earlier this month, the Volusia County Council voted unanimously to have county staff begin the process of developing an ordinance to prohibit construction of large-scale data centers in unincorporated areas of the county. The proposed ordinance, when completed, will first go before the county’s Land Development Regulation Commission and then be subject to two public hearings before the County Council.

At the Aug. 17 meeting, Growth and Resource Management Director Ray Tyner said county staff established a team with representatives from the utilities department, development planners and economic development to research the data center issue,

“There is a lot of misinformation out there – a lot of different information,” Tyner said. “We’re trying to provide you with the facts that were available.”

Carol McFarlane, planning and development services director, said the staff report focused on defining what adata center is, utility needs for the facilities, economic considerations including tax revenue and employment, potential community impacts including public health and policy options available to the county.

The report includes 10 key findings regarding data centers including that data centers are not all alike, the county would retain full local authority in zoning and land use decisions, water resource concern is well-founded, large-scale data centers can require extraordinary electrical and water infrastructure, there could be significant property tax potential, job creation claims require scrutiny, noise and low-frequency sound is a legitimate public health concern, AI growth is increasing demand for skilled trades, existing regulations provide a framework but were not written for data centers and the county has policy choices and incentives, land use standards, infrastructure requirements and community-benefit expectations.

“We do have regulations on the books that can help with data centers but they are not defined,” she said.

Council member David Santiago said the county needs to be cautious about how it moves forward.

“It sounds like the proper legal staff recommendation is to create the moratorium if we so choose to allow the county to do its due diligence to find out how these data centers affect our community and determine if we have any legislative findings to make that case,” he said. “Anything we do has to be strategic and proper.”

Council member Don Dempsey displayed a map of the state showing areas prone to sinkhole formation, including large parts of Volusia County.

“I would say this is pretty compelling evidence that Volusia County is susceptible to sink holes,” he said. “Personally, I would like to do a ban have them go to one of the southern counties.”

Council chair Jeff Brower said the county needs to be proactive in protecting the health and safety of residents.

“We have to stand up to the state,” he said. “This is the health of the people we represent. I think it’s worth the fight and it’s time for the fight.”