Hunter Walterman
•8/31/2026
NORTH PORT, Fla. (WINK) - North Port commissioners advanced an 18-month pause on data center projects after a grueling meeting that stretched into the early morning hours of Tuesday.
Hundreds of people packed the commission chambers on Monday night as a long line of people spoke against data centers, warning of negative impacts to the city's water, air, and land. Public comment lasted for more than six hours as people questioned the benefit of a proposed data center project in a remote corner of the city.
Commissioners said they also had questions about the project, which was covered under a non-disclosure agreement between the city and developers until Friday. The project has not been approved.
Developers submitted plans for a roughly 900,000-square-foot data center facility on the evening of July 20th, according to a city web page. It includes 896,000 square feet of buildings, the city said, with about 123,200 square feet of office space. The proposal was previously covered by a non-disclosure agreement that expired on Friday.
A company called North Port Holdings 300, LLC is proposing to build the data center north of I-75 in a remote part of the city known as Yorkshire. The data center would be southwest of Yorkshire Street and east of Oleander Drive. It’s part of broader plans for a 282-acre development that could include commercial, retail, and multi-family housing.
The Deep Park development would have three separate ‘pods,' according to the city. 62 acres of commercial land closest to I-75 could have restaurants, bars, hotels, and light industry. 107 acres would include residential housing. There would be 112 acres of retail, including banks, offices, storage, and the data center.
The land is designated as an “employment epicenter,” the city said. It is zoned for several uses, including commercial, light and heavy industrial, retail, warehouse, office, recreation and multi-family residential.
The legislation said that North Port’s Unified Land Development Code does not contain specific standards to regulate data centers.
The moratorium would include the North Port 300 data center. DeSoto County passed a one-year moratorium on data center applications in July. However, it did not include a controversial data center proposal that could expand to more than 1,000 acres.
Hundreds of people packed North Port's Commission Chambers Monday night to oppose data centers. Public comment lasted for almost four hours as people raised concerns about air, water and noise pollution.
That includes 12-year-old brothers Dane and Reid Lookhoof, who showed up with their family. Dane said he's worried the project will contaminate water. There have been reports of data centers impacting neighbors water in other parts of the country.
"I just feel [it's] important as a Florida resident to speak and try to help everyone," Reid said.
Angela Mukhin lived in North Port for 15 years before moving to Punta Gorda. Mukhin's family still lives in the city, and she spoke against the project during Monday's meeting.
"We don't know the long term effects of [data centers]," Mukhin said. "I mean it's insane what they're wanting to do in such a small beautiful town like North Port."
The moratorium
Commissioners will vote on whether to give final approval to the moratorium after another public meeting on Sept. 8.
