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Committee continues heated public hearing on proposed data‑center ban to April 14
Summary
Councilors and public commenters debated an order to define and ban "data centers" citywide. Supporters urged a ban to buy time for regulatory drafting; developers said small projects would not stress utilities and urged regulation over prohibition. The committee continued the hearing to April 14 to allow the planning board and utilities (HG&E) to provide more information.
The Ordinance Committee opened a public hearing Feb. 24 on a multi‑sponsor order that would add a definition of "data center" to the zoning code and make the use prohibited in all city zoning districts. The hearing drew multiple public speakers, developer representatives and extensive council debate.
Councilor Panitch, who sponsored the order with other councilors, framed the measure as a protective pause: communities have experienced water and power strain and noise issues from some large data‑center projects, and Holyoke's…
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