Canton, Curtis Bay data center rules spark Baltimore debate
Baltimore City's Planning Commission held a packed and heated hearing regarding Council Bill 26-0174, which proposes new rules and restrictions for data centers, particularly in areas like Canton and Curtis Bay, as the city's one-year moratorium is set to expire. The bill suggests allowing data centers under 10 megawatts for conditional use in industrial zones and requires a health equity assessment, which opponents and commission members criticized as unworkable and a conflict of interest.
Baltimore City's Planning Commission convened a packed and contentious hearing to discuss Council Bill 26-0174, which aims to establish new regulations for data centers within the city, specifically in areas such as Canton and Curtis Bay. The bill's sponsor, Councilmember Phylicia Porter, D-District 10, emphasized the need for City code to adapt to new technologies before Baltimore's current one-year data center moratorium expires next year, warning that without new regulations, the city remains "fully unprotected.
The proposed legislation would permit data centers consuming less than 10 megawatts of electricity under certain conditional uses in designated industrial zones. A key component of the bill mandates that developers complete a health equity self-assessment, studying potential impacts on pollution, drinking water, noise, and traffic within a 1.5-mile radius of a proposed site. This assessment would then be reviewed by the City Health Department, a process that drew significant criticism from opponents who cited it as a major conflict of interest.
Public testimony revealed strong opposition, with one resident advocating for a statewide ban on data centers and questioning the urgency of passing the bill before further studies are completed. Commission members echoed concerns regarding the health equity assessment, stating that the Health Department lacks the necessary staff, funding, and data rights to effectively fulfill the bill's requirements, deeming it an "unworkable mechanism" that provides only the "appearance of protection without the substance of it."