NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 Nassau County commissioners are considering a proposed moratorium on \u201cdata center facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Monday, residents urged leaders to pause any potential projects and study the impacts on water, power systems and the environment.<\/p>\n
The measure passed on first reading and heads to a second public hearing and final vote on June 8, according to county officials.<\/p>\n
Residents packed the Nassau County Board of County Commissioners meeting and repeatedly asked commissioners to adopt the moratorium.<\/p>\n
\u201cPass the moratorium, please,\u201d one speaker said during public comment.<\/p>\n
What the moratorium would do<\/p>\n
According to the proposed ordinance, the moratorium would temporarily stop the county from accepting, reviewing, processing or approving applications tied to data center facilities in Nassau County.<\/p>\n
That includes requests such as:<\/p>\n
Rezoning applications<\/p>\n
Conditional use permits<\/p>\n
Development permits<\/p>\n
Site plan approvals<\/p>\n
Building permits<\/p>\n
Other development approvals tied to construction, expansion or operation of data center facilities<\/p>\n
The ordinance describes a \u201cdata center facility\u201d as a building \u2014 or group of buildings \u2014 housing computer systems and related components used for remote storage, processing or distribution of large amounts of data. Examples listed in the ordinance include cryptocurrency mining and artificial intelligence computing, along with cloud storage and streaming services.<\/p>\n
County Attorney Denise May told commissioners during the meeting that the moratorium is meant to buy time for planning and regulating.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is also NOT a Ban,\u201d May said.<\/p>\n
Commission Chair Alyson McCullough also emphasized to the public that the county is not currently reviewing a specific data center proposal.<\/p>\n
\u201cNassau County has not received any applications,\u201d McCullough said.<\/p>\n