Baltimore City Council approves bond package, private-detention ban and moratorium on large data centers

Baltimore City Council members on third reading approved several bills and bond measures, moving a package of budget and land-use items into law or to subsequent steps.

What passed: the council approved bond issue bills that together authorize funds for affordable housing ($22 million), a school loan ($60 million), community and economic development ($50 million) and public infrastructure ($148 million). The council also approved a citywide ban on private detention centers (Bill 26-0157) and a moratorium on data centers (Bill 26-0158) with amendments, including a study to be led by the Department of Planning and a one-year sunset for the moratorium.

Chair McCray, reporting for the Budget & Appropriations Committee, said the committee held hearings and recommended the bond bills as favorable and moved them to third reader. Chair Dorsey described the data-centers package's five amendments, saying the measures would clarify the definition of data centers, require a multiagency feasibility study with a recommended 9-month timeline after enactment, and ensure the moratorium would lapse after one year.

Several zoning and land-use items were also advanced for third reading, including multiple street-closing and rezoning measures and conditional-use conversions. The clerk read the third-reader approvals into the record.

Next steps: bond measures and ordinances approved on third reading will follow the normal enactment process; the data-center moratorium and private-detention ban were advanced with amendments that include study and enactment windows described at the hearing.