Shouting erupts before DeSoto Planning Commission recommends 2-year moratorium on AI data center

The DeSoto County Planning and Zoning Commission voted Tuesday to recommend a two-year moratorium on AI data centers after hearing emotional concerns from Arcadia residents about a proposed project.

The Planning Commission also recommended removing the exemption for the DCIP Group's pending expansion applications. If adopted by the County Commission, the two-year moratorium would also pause consideration of the company's proposed expansion across approximately 800 acres, rather than allowing those applications to continue through the approval process.

The moratorium recommendation now moves to the DeSoto Board of County Commissioners for a final decision in a future meeting, after they voted on June 23 to start drafting a temporary one-year moratorium ordinance.

Commissioners can decide between the recommendation, the initial draft, or any modifications to the drafted moratorium ordinance they discuss.

Tuesday night's planning commission meeting, which lasted over an hour, saw residents voicing their opposition, and tensions escalated when a man was removed after a dispute with Erik Howard, a DeSoto County Planning and Zoning Commission official, who was commenting on the length of the meeting.

Karen Pritchard, an Arcadia resident who lives near the proposed project site, shared her reaction to the moratorium recommendation, including the DCIP-proposed expansion.

"I feel fantastic. We are so excited. But we're still not out of the woods," Pritchard said.

She continued, "We weren't concerned about a future one, because if they put the largest one in the country here already, what's the point of having a moratorium on anything else?"

The proposed site is a former natural gas power plant in rural Arcadia on Northeast Roan Street. Commissioners have already approved rezoning 34 acres for a 35,000-square-foot data center, but the DCIP Group says the full project would span 1,300 acres.

The company has stated that the facility would generate most of its electricity on-site and that groundwater would only be used as a last resort.

"Their concerns are valid. Is their information correct in a lot of cases? No," said Jon Brown, CEO of the DCIP Group, in a previous interview with Gulf Coast News.

Despite the recommendation, residents like Pritchard remain steadfast in their opposition.

"We're hoping they're going to leave," Pritchard said.

The DCIP Group’s plans moving forward remain uncertain if the moratorium, which may include their additional applications, is enacted.

On Tuesday, the DCIP Group told Gulf Coast News over the phone that they are reviewing all documents in the meantime and listening to what the county officials have to say.

Count on Gulf Coast News for updates on this moratorium process and proposed data center project.