North Port approves pause on data center development

NORTH PORT, Fla. (WINK) — North Port city commissioners approved a data center development pause that some argue doesn’t go far enough.  

 

Commissioners passed an 18-month moratorium on the acceptance and approval of applications for data centers in a 3-2 vote Tuesday night. The legislation excludes a roughly 900,000-square foot data center facility proposed in a remote part of the city.  

 

It allows staff to accept, process, and review the application. But staff cannot approve development without an OK from the city commission. 

 

City Attorney Michael Fuino warned that including the project in the moratorium could expose North Port to a lawsuit. The company could argue it was denied legal rights granted under the application process, including re-submitting designs after the city raised concerns. He said commissioners could still reject the data center. 

 

Commissioner Phil Stokes, Barbara Langdon, and Mayor Pete Emrich voted for the moratorium. Commissioner Demetrius Petrow and David Duval voted no, arguing North Port should reject the data center immediately. 

 

The city’s land development code does not address the water demand, infrastructure capacity, and environmental impact of large-scale data center projects, according to the legislation. It directs city staff to study the issue and prepare new rules and regulations. 

 

It allows developers to request an exception based on “extraordinary hardship.” That includes if the project already received permits or if developers made a “substantial expenditure of money or resources.” Commissioners would ultimately decide whether to grant an exception.

 

Public comment lasted more than three hours as people lined up to oppose data centers. People raised concerns about their impact on the environment and city infrastructure. 

 

Darrell Ferguson is a mechanical engineer who lives in North Port. Ferguson said he worked on data centers in the Pacific Northwest, including for Amazon Web Services. 

 

"I don't think it's fair to outright say 'no data center'," Ferguson said. "But when I look at the plans, I see that there's a lot of things that aren't answered clearly."

Ferguson said it's unclear how the North Port facility would be powered. He pointed out that a smaller data center in Oregon required 110 generators because it couldn't connect to commercial power. Ferguson worked at the facility and said the generators created a lot of noise.

He isn't opposed to the North Port data center, but said more questions need to be answered. 

 

"I know everyone is looking at the water and potential risks to the well and water aquifer," Ferguson said. "My concern is we haven't thought this thing through on a lot of fronts."

 

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. 

 

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.

It was previously covered under a non-disclosure agreement that expired last month.