Sunbury mayor urges pause on data-center agreements, proposes time-bound moratorium for study

Mayor Joe Saint John told a packed State of the City address that Sunbury will seek a deliberate pause on development work tied to data centers and related projects while the city gathers more information.

"We’re going to pause any development agreements related to data centers, hyperscalers, or AI data centers," St. John said, describing the step as a time-bound moratorium meant to “give our staff breathing room to be able to address this.” He said the pause would include rezoning requests tied to those reuses and that the city is targeting a June public forum for broader input.

The mayor framed the proposal as a fact-finding measure rather than an outright ban. He cited concerns residents have raised about energy-grid impacts, water use, environmental risks (including so-called "forever chemicals"), and the compatibility of very large facilities with local land use. He also pointed to pending state legislation — House Bill 646 — that would create a state-level commission to evaluate similar issues and urged legislators to pass it with strong protections.

St. John said city staff have already been in dialogue with developers and companies, including representatives the mayor said came from AWS, and described those conversations as constructive. "Each one of those entities wants to be part of the discussion and ... provide their side of the story and facts," he said, adding that some developers welcomed the additional time to address concerns.

What the mayor did not specify were the exact legal mechanics or duration of the moratorium. The mayor described the step as a "call to action" for council and staff; he did not move a formal motion or calendar a vote during the address. City officials said the moratorium would direct staff to undertake "enhanced due diligence" and to organize public forums, but final policy language and any formal council action were left for a subsequent meeting.

The proposal has immediate local consequences: it would pause negotiation of development agreements, which typically spell out responsibilities for infrastructure, roadwork, sewer connections and cost-recovery. St. John said development agreements assign who builds roads and sewers and how costs are repaid, and that pausing them creates time to examine those terms as they relate to large-scale data facilities.

The mayor urged residents to bring well-documented, objective information to the public process and said Sunbury will assemble outside experts — including environmental specialists, electric utilities and water authorities — to inform discussions. He emphasized the city's commitment to basing any changes on evidence rather than fear and said the pause is intended to lower community tension while facts are gathered.

Next steps noted in the address include staff-led research, convening experts and a planned initial public forum in June. Any formal moratorium ordinance, rezoning decision or development-agreement amendment would require separate council action subject to public notice and record.