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Select Board to seek special town meeting for six‑month data‑center moratorium while exploring possible ban
Summary
The Limington Select Board says it will call a special town meeting within weeks to impose a six‑month moratorium on data‑center development while officials and the planning board investigate whether an outright local ban would be legally possible.
The Limington Select Board on July 9 said it will pursue a special town meeting within weeks to enact a six‑month moratorium on new data‑center development as town officials research whether an outright ban would be legally allowable.
The moratorium will be submitted for public notice and, if adopted, will be predated to June 25 and last six months, Select Board Chair (Speaker 1) told the meeting. “The moratorium comes first,” the Chair said. “We gotta get it out to the people and it will be predated… this will put a stop to it right now.”
Why it matters: board members said the planning board must draft ordinance language and that the Select Board will consult the Maine Municipal Association (MMA), the town attorney and state senators to determine whether Limington can lawfully enact a permanent ban. The Chair cited at least one California community that has adopted an outright prohibition as an example the town will study.
During public comment, resident Bonnie Lord Laughlin asked whether the moratorium and a potential ban were being pursued simultaneously or on different timelines. The Chair replied that the moratorium is the immediate step — to buy time for the planning board’s work — and that, if a ban is legally possible, the town may pursue that later. “The moratorium comes first… That gives us 6 months,” the Chair said.
The planning board chair (Joyce Foley) has reviewed draft verbiage with the Select Board, the Chair said, and the planning board will have significant drafting and research to complete. Board members noted the work could stretch into the following spring if an ordinance is drafted for a town meeting vote.
Next steps: the Select Board will work with town staff to schedule a special town meeting (targeted within two to three weeks if procedural notices and publication deadlines allow), present the moratorium language to voters, and continue outreach to other municipalities and legal advisers to inform any longer‑term action.
No vote to ban data centers was taken at the July 9 meeting; the meeting record shows the board’s immediate action is to move forward with a moratorium and to prepare the legal and procedural work needed to evaluate a permanent prohibition.
