City officials say Tallahassee’s existing land development code already prevents AI data centers from locating within city limits without affirmative action by the City Commission.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — An effort to explicitly ban artificial intelligence data centers within Tallahassee failed Wednesday, but city officials say that does not mean massive data centers can currently move into the city.
Commissioner Jeremy Matlow proposed bringing back an ordinance that would specifically define AI data centers in Tallahassee’s land development code and prohibit them from being built within city limits.
Commissioner Jack Porter seconded the motion.
Matlow initially also sought to prevent Tallahassee’s public electric utility from providing power to AI data centers, but city officials warned commissioners that state utility law would likely prevent the city from refusing service to a customer legally located within its service territory.
The ultimate proposal focused on land use: defining AI data centers and bringing back an ordinance to ban them from locating inside Tallahassee.
The motion failed 3-2, with Mayor John Dailey, Mayor Pro Tem Curtis Richardson and Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox opposed. Matlow and Porter supported the proposal.
City officials: AI data centers already aren’t allowed
The most significant part of Wednesday’s discussion was the explanation from city officials about what Tallahassee’s existing rules already do.
City staff said Tallahassee’s land development code does not currently contemplate AI data centers as an allowed use.
That means a company could not simply submit plans for a massive AI data center and build it under existing zoning rules.
Instead, the City Commission would have to take affirmative action to change its rules before such a facility could legally locate within the city.
Richardson said that distinction needs to be made clear to residents.
He said that without affirmative action by the commission, an AI data center “cannot happen within the confines of the city of Tallahassee.”
Matlow wanted an explicit prohibition
Matlow argued that Tallahassee should go further and put a specific ban into its land development code.
His proposal came amid growing debate across Florida and the country about the enormous electricity and infrastructure demands associated with AI data centers.
Matlow’s motion called for staff to return with an agenda item that would formally define an AI data center and develop an ordinance similar to restrictions being considered or adopted elsewhere in Florida.
Porter supported the proposal and also asked for additional information about legislation passed this year involving public utilities and data centers.
She specifically raised questions about the relationship between publicly owned electric utilities and future data center development.
City says it may have to provide power if data center becomes legal
City officials cautioned commissioners that land-use authority and utility authority are two separate issues.
Tallahassee can control what types of development are permitted through its land development code.
But officials said the city’s electric utility generally has an obligation to serve customers legally located within its service territory.
That means commissioners could potentially prevent an AI data center from being built through zoning and land-use regulations, but they likely could not allow a data center to legally operate and then simply refuse to sell it electricity.
Staff explained that if the land-use code does not permit the facility, the utility would not have to serve it because it could not legally locate there in the first place.
Dailey: City has already handled the issue
Dailey opposed Matlow’s proposal, saying commissioners have already spent considerable time discussing data centers and Tallahassee’s existing regulations.
“We have handled this issue,” Dailey said. “We have discussed this issue.”
The mayor said he did not want city staff spending additional time developing another ordinance when officials have already established that AI data centers cannot currently be built under Tallahassee’s land development rules.
Richardson made a similar argument.
He said Tallahassee has had its current development framework in place for years and that he was comfortable with the protections already provided by the city’s code.
Vote does not open Tallahassee to data centers
The 3-2 vote is an important distinction for residents following the increasingly heated data center debate.
Commissioners did not vote to approve AI data centers.
They also did not change Tallahassee’s zoning code to allow them.
Instead, the majority rejected Matlow’s proposal to create an additional ordinance explicitly defining and banning the facilities.
According to the explanation provided by city staff Wednesday, the practical result remains the same for now: an AI data center cannot be developed within Tallahassee city limits under the existing land development code unless the City Commission first takes affirmative action to allow it.
That means any future proposal for a large-scale AI data center inside Tallahassee would have to come back into the public arena before commissioners could change the city’s rules to accommodate it.
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