Resident urges council to block data centers as hearings are scheduled

A Leominster resident urged the city council to stop allowing data centers in the city during public comment on July 27, as the council moved to schedule hearings and consider temporary moratoria on utility-scale battery storage and data-center development.

Dorothy Rulo, who gave her Low Street address as required during the public forum, said she was “totally against it simply because of the pollution that it would create and the air, the water, the, and the noise,” and warned that adding a definition to the zoning ordinance could make acceptance more likely. The council noted there are public hearings scheduled in August and September (multiple hearing dates were discussed; a public hearing on related petitions is scheduled for 09/14/2026, and several data-center–related petition hearings were placed on the August 24 agenda). Petitions seeking a temporary moratorium on battery energy storage systems and on new data-center applications were given further time for study and public comment.

Councilors and staff discussed legal and procedural considerations before final votes, and the council requested written clarification from the city solicitor on whether current zoning already precludes data centers and whether a moratorium is legally defensible; the response was said to be forthcoming in writing before the scheduled hearings. The council took no immediate regulatory action at the meeting beyond scheduling hearings and granting additional time for review.