Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Data Centers topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Data-center buffers and public concerns draw extended discussion; commission defers some data-center language
Summary
Commissioners debated TA 26‑13 (buffer rules) and whether to include data centers in a 40-foot buffer requirement; they voted to remove data centers from this amendment and defer detailed data‑center buffering and setbacks to the separate data‑center amendment, while a member of the public urged careful environmental review of data-center impacts.
TA 26‑13 would limit the 40‑foot buffer requirement adopted in the zoning update to certain high-impact uses (commercial power-generating facilities, minor solar systems, and data centers) while returning other uses to the earlier 20‑foot standard. Commissioners expressed unease about including data centers in this general amendment because separate, dedicated text-amendment work (TA 26‑23) is already in process to examine data-center-specific setbacks and buffers.
Commissioner questions and staff responses led to a motion to remove data centers from TA 26‑13 and to defer their buffer policy to the separate data‑center amendment; the motion carried with one recorded opposition. Later in the public-comment portion, Leonard Souza of Concerned Citizens of Calvert urged the commission to continue working with the environmental commission to evaluate environmental and financial risks from proposed data centers, citing grid-demand, increased electricity costs, generator pollution, and PJM-related system warnings as reasons for careful review.
"These threats not only could affect our health but are region (sic) financial threats that these facilities could create for Calvert residents," Souza said, summarizing concerns about power demand and cost pressure. The commission signaled it would treat the data-center policy as a focused, separate work item and forward the rest of TA 26‑13 to the BOCC with the recommended deletion.
