County board OKs one-year data center moratorium

The Oneida County Board of Supervisors has enacted a one-year moratorium on new data center development within the county's zoned areas. The unanimous 20-0 vote on Tuesday approved Resolution 56-2026/Ordinance Amendment 02-2026, which amends a section of the county's zoning and shoreland protection ordinance. This decision grants the Planning and Development Committee time to thoroughly investigate the potential impacts of data centers and develop permanent regulatory guidelines.

During the 12-month period, the county will cease accepting, processing, or issuing permits for new data center construction or expansion in unincorporated, zoned areas. The moratorium does not affect projects that already possess valid permits, and officials confirmed no data center applications are currently pending. The regulation specifically applies to towns that have adopted county zoning, with extensions to unzoned towns requiring prior adoption of full zoning, according to county staff.

The ordinance defines a data center as a facility primarily containing servers, network equipment, and data storage systems, alongside essential supporting infrastructure such as mechanical, electrical, cooling, and security systems. County staff highlighted that current zoning codes do not address data centers, meaning any proposed project would be evaluated on an individual basis as an unregulated land use. The resolution cites concerns over significant electrical demand, industrial-scale cooling, noise pollution, emergency generators, fuel storage, and increased construction traffic near residential and agricultural zones.