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Norton council adopts 90‑day moratorium on data‑center zoning after resident raises setback concerns
Summary
The Norton City Council on May 18 adopted Ordinance 55‑20‑26, enacting a 90‑day moratorium on processing applications for data centers and sending the draft ordinance back to the planning commission after public comment about setbacks and neighborhood impacts.
The Norton City Council on May 18 unanimously adopted Ordinance 55‑20‑26, instituting a 90‑day moratorium on receipt, processing and approval of zoning applications for NAICS 518 data processing and hosting operations and declaring an emergency to waive readings.
Resident Tanya Vandervene told the council she came to ask “why council feels that the ordinance is needed” and pressed for clarity on proposed setbacks, saying “the feet and the setbacks for this scare the hell out of me.” She said her property backs up to vacant land and invoked past fights over industrial development when arguing for protections for neighbors.
Council members said the draft ordinance has been returned to the planning commission for further work and that the moratorium is intended to buy time to avoid leaving future councils without zoning guidance. "We're simply adding 90 on the moratorium to get us time to finish this document and to make sure it is right," the council president said. A council member also warned that any setback rule should measure from “any noise producing apparatus” — for example, generators — not only from building walls to avoid potential loopholes.
Councilor remarks during the meeting included a reading into the record of a March 30, 2026 media summary of a Cambridge study describing temperature increases near very large data centers; one councilor said the study showed data centers can create heat islands that warm the surrounding land. Council members said the planning commission will take the council's guidance, the draft will be revised, and the ordinance will return to council for decision-making.
The motion to add Ordinance 55‑20‑26 to the agenda, waive second and third readings and adopt it passed on a roll call with all members voting yes. The ordinance places a temporary pause on data‑center applications while staff and the planning commission revise setback and operational language and communicate findings back to council.
What happens next: Planning‑staff and the planning commission will review the draft language during the moratorium period and return a revised ordinance to council; council members said the item could return sooner than the full 90 days if work completes earlier.
