More Connecticut towns are banning data centers before they even get proposed
Three Connecticut towns, Groton, Morris, and West Haven, have enacted temporary or permanent restrictions on data center construction. Groton specifically converted a temporary moratorium into permanent zoning regulations, limiting data center size to under 12,500 square feet. Other municipalities are considering similar bans to manage large developments and address concerns over environmental impacts, energy use, and noise.
Several towns across Connecticut are proactively imposing bans or restrictions on data center development, often before any specific projects are even proposed. This trend allows municipalities to establish their own regulations and maintain control over large-scale construction within their borders.
Groton, Morris, and West Haven are cited as examples of communities that have already adopted either temporary moratoriums or permanent restrictions. Groton was the first, instituting a temporary moratorium in 2022, which was then formalized a year later into permanent zoning regulations that cap data center sizes at 12,500 square feet.
Experts, such as Betsy Gara, executive director of the Connecticut Council of Small Towns (COST), note that despite a relatively low number of data center proposals, towns are implementing these temporary bans to create time for developing appropriate regulatory frameworks. These actions are primarily driven by local opposition concerns surrounding potential environmental impacts, significant energy usage, and noise pollution from data center operations.