Legislation committee forwards 12‑month moratorium on data‑center development

The New Haven Board of Alders' legislation committee voted on Aug. 4 to forward a proposed 12‑month moratorium on new data‑center development to the full board for consideration. City planning staff told the committee they support the pause to allow time to study potential local impacts — including heavy electricity and water use, heat emissions and noise — and to draft zoning and performance standards.

City Plan Director Laura Brown said staff’s report recommends a cautious approach because the city cannot yet fully vet the facilities’ possible adverse effects and because existing local definitions do not capture the recent scale of data‑center proposals. Economic development staff noted that some data‑center growth nationally is driven by increased artificial‑intelligence workloads. Brown and Deputy Director Dean Mack asked that the committee refer the moratorium to the City Planning Commission for a public hearing so zoning implications can be addressed.

Public commenters urged the committee to consider environmental and health impacts. Former Environmental Advisory Council chair Laura Khan told the committee, “They use a lot of electricity and water and a lot of heat, and they also make noise,” and asked that noise and health harms be included in the city’s review. Another commenter referenced Connecticut’s environmental justice statute (Conn. Gen. Stat. §22‑20a) as a model for stronger community notification and benefit negotiations.

Committee members discussed whether the moratorium should be defined by a use‑type or by measurable performance thresholds (for example, megawatts of power, water consumption, or decibel limits). Staff pointed to examples in other jurisdictions — including a recent New York State moratorium that used a 15‑megawatt threshold — and said the draft’s six‑month deadline for recommendations and one‑year moratorium duration align with common practice and legal advice.

Alderman Adam Marchand moved an amendment to make explicit that the moratorium would not apply to certain quantum‑computing and life‑sciences research facilities associated with the city's innovation cluster; that amendment passed. After additional amendments and discussion about scope and process, the committee gave a favorable recommendation to the full board by voice vote. The board is expected to receive the moratorium with the committee’s amendments for further consideration and scheduling.