Pinellas Park proposes one-year moratorium on new data centers
Pinellas Park is proposing a one-year moratorium on new data center developments while city officials draft new zoning regulations. The move follows an American Tower data center proposal and a new Florida law affirming local governments' authority to regulate high utility demand developments.
Pinellas Park, Florida, is considering a one-year moratorium on new data center developments to allow city staff to draft specific zoning regulations. The proposed ordinance would temporarily halt the acceptance and approval of applications for both new and expanded data centers, including those already in the pipeline. City officials note that the existing land development code is inadequate for modern data centers and their associated infrastructure and operational demands.
This initiative comes shortly after American Tower announced plans for a 4-megawatt edge data center in the city. The move is also aligned with a recent Florida state law that reinforces local governments' authority to regulate developments requiring significant utility resources. The moratorium would affect facilities for various high-performance computing uses, such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and cryptocurrency mining.