County attorney: Levy County code lacks a data-center use; moratoriums are a temporary, defensible pause

Byron Flagg, appearing for GrayRobinson, told the Levy County workshop that the county's existing land development code contains no explicit definition or permitted category for "data centers," which means a developer would likely need a land-use text amendment to be allowed to build.

"So right now, as your code stands, your code does not have a definite legal definition for data center at all in its code," Flagg said, adding that under the county's land-use table any use not listed as permitted, conditional or allowed by special exception is prohibited. He reviewed state action from the last legislative session (referred to in the briefing as Senate Bill 484, codified as Chapter 2026-65) and said the law acknowledges unique planning and infrastructure considerations for data centers while preserving local comprehensive-planning and land-development authority.

Flagg explained moratorium ordinances are adopted by ordinance (not resolution), are meant to be temporary pauses used to study impacts and draft regulations, and that courts have generally viewed a 12-month moratorium as a reasonable time frame for such study. He also noted that water-management districts issue consumptive-use permits and that some aspects of utilities and water use may be governed outside county authority. "When a local government adopts a moratorium, it's basically putting a pause on any kind of development on private property," Flagg said, and advised the board that moratoria should be time-limited and tied to a purpose such as drafting new land-use rules.