Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Zoning Data Centers topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Pembroke Park holds first reading of ordinance to regulate data centers and AI training facilities
Summary
The commission heard a first reading of Ordinance 2026-010, which would restrict data centers and AI training facilities to special-exception approvals, impose infrastructure, resilience and noise standards, and establish a fee schedule through a companion resolution. Planners cited state action and local infrastructure concerns.
Pembroke Park commissioners on Wednesday held a first reading of an ordinance that would ban data centers as a permitted use and require special-exception approvals for any data‑center or artificial‑intelligence training facility.
Andrea Harper, the town’s acting consultant planner, told the commission the proposal — Ordinance 2026-010 — would amend Chapter 28 of the town code to add definitions, require special‑use approvals, set infrastructure and decommissioning rules, and create a fee schedule intended to ensure applicants meet water, power, climate‑resilience and operational standards. "Data center and artificial training facilities burden the existing water and electric facilities due to high demands on both," Harper said.
The presentation cited recent state action — Florida Senate Bill 484 — as a prompt for a local regulatory framework that preserves municipal control while protecting the town’s limited utilities. Harper also showed a map of potential locations that, if the ordinance advances, would remain subject to a special‑exception process.
Commissioners pressed staff on practical constraints: several members said Pembroke Park lacks sufficient fresh water and electrical capacity to host large data centers. "They demand huge amounts of power," one commissioner said, adding that the town could not meet concurrency requirements. Another commissioner warned about noise and vibration impacts on nearby residents.
Town Attorney (role: Town attorney) recommended using a special‑exception and administrative review approach rather than an outright ban, noting the legislature has not preempted local regulation of the use and that a special‑exception framework would allow tailored conditions. Harper said proposed fees are substantial and the companion resolution (Resolution 2026-052) establishes a fee schedule intended to cover review, monitoring and financial assurances.
Commissioners asked staff to incorporate community concerns — including updates to the town’s noise ordinance — and to bring revisions back for a later reading. The ordinance remains at first reading; the companion fee resolution was suggested for consideration at the ordinance's second reading.
If and when it advances, the ordinance would require applicants for data centers or AI training facilities to secure special‑use approvals and meet town‑imposed operational, employment and decommissioning requirements.
