South Bristol will hold town hall on Monday over proposed data center ban
South Bristol’s town board will hold a public hearing on a proposed ban on large data centers and artificial intelligence computing facilities. The proposal comes during New York’s year-long pause on large data center construction, as officials weigh potential environmental impacts against possible tax benefits.
The South Bristol Town Board is scheduled to hold a public hearing at South Bristol Town Hall on a proposed ban on constructing large data centers and AI computing facilities. The legislation would define both traditional data centers and high-performance computing facilities, while excluding certain facilities primarily used for international operations, including those operated by licensed health care providers.
The proposal comes as New York maintains a year-long pause on construction of large data centers. State leaders say the pause is intended to give local governments time to determine how such facilities should be regulated. Concerns include heavy electricity demand and water use, while supporters point to potential tax benefits for municipalities. In nearby Henrietta, the town supervisor has advocated requiring future data centers to undergo incentive zoning rather than a special-use permit process.