At the request of the Town Council, the town attorney has prepared a draft ordinance imposing a 180-day moratorium on the siting and construction of large-scale data centers.
The moratorium is considered necessary because the town’s comprehensive plan, ordinances, regulations and policies are inadequate to prevent harm that could result from the siting, installation, operation, and decommissioning of data centers within the town, according to the draft document presented at the July 28 council meeting.
If adopted, the moratorium would give the town up to 180 days to evaluate potential impacts of a data center and develop ordinances and regulations governing data centers.
The council agreed last week to look into the applicable process before proceeding. The council had agreed at an earlier meeting to ask the attorney for a draft document, according to Jennifer Janelle, interim town manager.
The town attorney from Bernstein & Shur in Portland has suggested the moratorium apply only to data centers exceeding 100,000 square feet so smaller businesses that house their own data storage systems would not be impacted.
Vice Chair Mallory Cook questioned whether a public hearing is required before the moratorium can be adopted and asked for assurance that the council, town planner and Planning Board could develop the necessary regulations within the six-month window.
“I want to be sure we are not missing steps,” Cook said.
Gov. Janet Mills in April vetoed legislation passed by the Maine Legislature that would have blocked new data centers statewide until November 2027. Mill’s objection was that it did not include an exemption she wanted for a facility at an old mill in Jay that was shut down in 2023.
