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Local candidate urges moratorium on large AI data centers; commissioners agree to consider
Summary
Nick Zateslo, a Tallahassee native and congressional candidate, urged the Leon County Commission to impose a moratorium and tighten land-use rules for large AI data centers, citing noise, heat, water use, diesel generator pollution and short operational job lists. Commissioners signaled interest in following up and the chair said he would offer a one-year moratorium motion later in the meeting.
At the start of the public-comment period on June 9, Tallahassee native and congressional candidate Nick Zateslo urged Leon County commissioners to adopt a moratorium on large AI data centers and to revise county land-development rules to require tighter review, mandatory community meetings, stronger decommissioning bonds and clearer reporting of developer ownership.
Zateslo said data centers can bring continuous noise from cooling equipment, elevated neighborhood temperatures, large water draws and dozens of diesel generators to keep operations running during outages. "People assume that data centers are a rural problem and they're not," he said. "These facilities are being built into and next to urban neighborhoods." He urged the county to require developers to disclose ownership and to stop projects from circumventing review by being rebranded as solar farms or greenhouses.
Commissioner reaction and next step: Commissioners expressed concern about siting patterns in low-income neighborhoods and the county’s lack of a data-center ordinance. Commissioner Proctor said staff would receive a letter from the chair's office and that he intended to offer a one-year moratorium as a motion later in the meeting. Several commissioners said a public-education campaign on the issue would be appropriate.
Provenance: Public comment and commissioners’ immediate responses appear at the beginning of the public-comment period (topic introduction SEG 366) and the chair’s pledge to bring a moratorium motion appears in later discussion (topic finish SEG 463).
Speakers quoted (first reference): Nick Zateslo; Commissioner Proctor.
