TO: Honorable Mayor & Members of the North Port Commission
FROM: A. Jerome Fletcher II, ICMA-CM, MPA, City Manager
TITLE: Discussion and Possible Action Regarding Data Center Moratorium.
Recommended Action
Provide staff direction whether to adopt, or begin the process of adopting, a data center moratorium.
City Commission Options
Option 1: Instruct staff to draft a proposed data center moratorium ordinance for the City Commission's review.
* Pros: Permits the City time to study data centers to propose future regulatory framework.
* Cons: Susceptible to legal challenges.
Option 2: Instruct staff to not draft a data center moratorium Ordinance for Commission's review.
* Pros: Avoids legal challenges.
* Cons: Does not allow the City time to study data centers to propose future regulatory framework.
Background Information
This agenda item was Commission requested. The City Attorney has drafted the item to provide legal context for the issue.
Data centers are typically defined as a physical facility or building that houses computer servers, data storage systems, and network equipment. There are two general types of data centers: traditional and hyperscale. While there are no standard definitions of the two, the major differences are:
Traditional data centers:
* Generally, much smaller, average 100,000 square feet.
* Require 50 acres of land or less.
* Use considerably less water and power than hyperscale.
* Typically used by multiple companies. The building is owned by a colocation company or managed service provider and the interior server racks are leased to numerous individual companies and organizations (banks, medical facilities, Cities/Counties) to house their servers and Information Technology (IT) equipment when they do not have the facilities/room at their own offices.
Hyperscale data centers:
* Very large, up to 1 million+ square feet
* Require 100+ acres
* Significantly more water and power usage (power may be >100MW)
* Typically owne...
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