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Residents urge moratorium on proposed Calvert-area data center; commissioners say county lacks zoning authority
Summary
Residents delivered a petition and multiple public comments urging a temporary moratorium on a proposed Beacon/Calvert-area data center, citing water, noise, wildlife and contamination concerns; commissioners told speakers the county lacks zoning or moratorium authority and advised pursuing state legislative action and federal permitting channels.
Arby Lucille Kimball Foster, a resident who said she represents an organized coalition, submitted a petition with more than 360 verified signatures and told the Mobile County Commission she and constituents want an immediate administrative moratorium on the proposed Beacon data center.
"We request that this commission enact an immediate temporary administrative moratorium on the Beacon Data centers project," Foster said, asking the commission to suspend approvals, conditional-use permits, variances, land-disturbance authorizations and tax abatements until an independent environmental and infrastructural impact assessment is completed and reviewed publicly.
Several other residents voiced overlapping concerns. Melissa Bailey said she worried about water use and contamination during dry months, power demands and battery risks; Linda Poirot warned of noise, light pollution and alleged water-quality incidents elsewhere and cited the "2024 National Defense Authorization Act" as a possible federal avenue for challenge.
Commissioners and staff responded that the county lacks land-use zoning and therefore cannot impose a moratorium on site selection or stop development by right. A staff member explained that some environmental permits (wetlands, water, floodplain) would be handled by state or federal agencies such as the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA.
One commissioner advised residents seeking long-term authority changes to pursue state-level action: "If you want to prevent this in the future, you need to start petitioning your state legislator to pass home rule laws and zoning laws," the commissioner said.
The exchange closed with the commission accepting the petition into the public record; commissioners offered to respond later in writing where they could provide facts not at hand during the business meeting.
What happens next: the commission did not adopt any moratorium or regulatory change at the meeting and noted that any legal authority to regulate land use would require action by the state legislature or review by appropriate permitting agencies.
