Palmetto wants to freeze new data center development for a year while the city decides where the power- and water-hungry facilities can go — or whether to allow them at all.
City commissioners will discuss the proposed moratorium Monday, after directing attorneys Aug. 3 to draft the temporary halt.
Palmetto has no zoning or development rules written specifically for data centers, and the city would stop processing the permits, zoning changes and other approvals needed to get one built while it works through those rules.
The meeting packet does not identify a proposed data center, developer or site in Palmetto behind the move.
The year would give planners time to decide what a data center could demand from Palmetto’s water, wastewater and electrical systems before the city approves one.
Palmetto relies on the Floridan Aquifer system and purified surface water from Lake Manatee Reservoir, while the proposed ordinance says data centers can consume substantial amounts of water for cooling and require enough electricity to create infrastructure demands comparable, in some cases, to small municipalities.
The ordinance describes data centers as facilities that can cover hundreds of acres while creating “little to no employment opportunities.” During the moratorium, planners would study which zoning districts could accommodate them, as well as noise, light pollution and other environmental concerns. Commissioners could eventually set minimum distances between facilities, limit how many Palmetto allows or prohibit them altogether.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 484 on May 8, adding water-use permitting requirements for large-scale data centers while affirming local governments’ authority over land-use regulations.
State law defines those facilities as data centers with an anticipated monthly peak electrical load of at least 50 megawatts, but Palmetto’s moratorium would also cover data centers below that threshold. Commissioners could make an exception for one of those facilities through a development agreement setting conditions on its location, size, water and power use and other impacts.
Palmetto has required applicants to disclose plans for a data center since Aug. 3, when commissioners directed attorneys to prepare the moratorium and invoked Florida’s Pending Ordinance Doctrine.
City attorneys modeled the measure after Pasco County’s data center moratorium as other Florida governments grapple with growing developer interest in the facilities.
The attorneys also flagged a potential conflict with SB 180, a state law restricting certain local moratoriums and more burdensome development rules involving property damaged by hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton.
Commissioners will take up the proposed one-year freeze during their Sept. 14 workshop; if ultimately adopted, the ordinance would allow the commission to extend the moratorium later under Florida law.