Canton schedules public hearing on proposed moratorium for large-scale data centers after residents urge pause

The Canton Town Board on May 13 set a public hearing for 5:30 p.m. July 8 to consider a proposed moratorium on large-scale data centers, following extensive public comment calling for more time to study environmental, grid and community impacts.

Residents and local advocates filled the meeting to urge the board to pause permitting while the state and municipalities evaluate the effects of hyperscale facilities. “Data centers may bring benefits, but there are significant factors that call for a cautious and deliberate approach,” said Kathy, speaking on behalf of the Canton Sustainability Committee.

Several speakers described specific local concerns. Katherine Stein, president of the League of Women Voters of St. Lawrence County, said the group supports thorough economic and environmental impact reviews and noted the League backed the state-level three-year moratorium proposal while also supporting the one-year moratorium that recently passed both houses of the New York State Legislature. “We need to give ourselves the time to study the likely local impacts of data centers and to enact laws and regulations that prevent the kinds of negative consequences that have been well documented,” Stein said.

Other commenters raised worker-safety and local pollution claims tied to an area Bitcoin facility. Heb recounted a former employee’s experience at that operation — citing alleged soot, dust exposure and heat-related illness — and urged town officials to involve OSHA and other regulators. Heb said the facility’s footprint and staffing levels there included “54,000 servers” and about “170 megawatts of power” without an added substation, and characterized the on-site positions as low‑paid, hazardous work.

“I would urge you to oppose AI data centers in your sphere of influence,” said Jeff Mitchell, a retired software engineer who urged caution about rapid deployment of powerful, insufficiently tested systems and endorsed a moratorium to allow community review.

Several speakers with technical experience advised the board to require stronger permit review capacity. Anna Summer, who said she manages power‑system planning teams, backed a moratorium but noted demand is driven by widespread consumption of cloud and AI services. She suggested raising application fees so the town can hire technical consultants to analyze traffic, air‑quality and water infrastructure impacts and to model generator emissions and grid stability.

Board members said the draft moratorium was tailored to avoid hampering small institutional or business data operations and would apply to data centers using more than 20 megawatts of power. The board’s discussion acknowledged the state legislature had passed a one‑year moratorium that at the time sat on the governor’s desk, and members referenced coordination with county planning staff and NYISO resources for large‑load review.

After the public comment period, a board member moved to set the public hearing on the proposed moratorium for 5:30 p.m. on July 8, to be followed immediately by the regular meeting; the motion was seconded and carried. No roll‑call vote tally was recorded in the minutes provided at the meeting.

What happens next: the public hearing will give residents a formal opportunity to present testimony and the board indicated it expects to create a committee to gather information and recommend next steps. Any extension of an enacted moratorium would require additional public hearings, board members said.

The record also shows other routine business that evening: approval of minutes, a financial report, department and committee updates, approval of procurement for a salt storage tarp barn for the highway department, and a joint town‑village renewal of a HUD home consortium cooperative agreement.