Volusia County leaders are moving forward with a plan to permanently ban the development of large-scale data centers, citing pressure from the community and the potential of negative effects on the county’s water supply, electricity, and quality of life.
“I want to scare them off. I want them gone,” said county council member Don Dempsey after hearing a presentation from county staff. “I want to preserve our water for our future generations to be able to drink — and not for data centers.”
A 12-month moratorium on large-scale data centers — those with a peak electrical load of 50 megawatts or more — was initially recommended by county staff after they were directed to research the centers’ environmental and health risks back in June.
But after hearing reports from county staff, and feedback from the public during an hours-long meeting, the eight-member council ultimately voted last week to move forward with a permanent ban.
“I don’t want it to just slip through the cracks in a year and die on the vine because it times out after a year without any fanfare,” said Dempsey. “I want it permanent. And if a data center comes in and they start coming to us, and there’s something unique about Volusia and why they want it, then they have to come to staff. It has to be noticed. The public has to be noticed. If they’re going to change the ban, it’s got to go to the current council at that time.”
Council member Troy Kent, in a hyper-candid moment, was even more direct with his thoughts on the matter.
“Why the hell would any sane person want these in your community? There’s nothing positive that I heard,” said Kent, earning applause from members of the public in council chambers.
“Why the hell would any sane person want these in your community? ”
Volusia County council member Troy Kent
A cross-partisan flashpoint
Although smaller-scale data centers have existed for decades, including in Florida, larger-scale centers that facilitate the expansion of AI technology have become a cross-partisan political flashpoint across the U.S.
The energy-hungry facilities have faced cutting criticism in Florida, Virginia, Georgia, Mississippi, and elsewhere for significant water and utility demands, nonstop disruptive noise, hiking up utility bills for locals, and more environmental and health risks.
Under a new state law (SB 484), signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in May, Florida county governments have the authority to regulate and decline large-scale data center development, according to a county staff analysis.
At least 12 municipalities in Florida — including Central Florida-adjacent Pasco, Lake, and Hernando Counties — have already issued temporary moratoriums on data center development, or are in the process of doing so, according to county staff. Two counties, Walton and Jackson, have issued permanent bans.
“What do they do for us?” asked Volusia County resident Lynn Peterson, during the Volusia meeting’s public comment period. “What do I get out of a data center that takes up so much space, so much water, and so much power in my community?”
The data center industry — and its supporters, like Amazon and Meta — have collectively poured millions of dollars into political contributions and lobbying politicians to sway regulation in their favor.
Florida Congressman Byron Donalds, the Republican nominee for Florida Governor this year, has received millions from the industry, and has refused to commit to a data center moratorium in Florida, earning him the nickname “Data Center Donalds.”
His competitor, Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Jolly, on the other hand, has pledged support for a temporary data center moratorium.
“These very wealthy — mostly men — are in a race to become even wealthier,” said Peterson, referring to Open AI CEO Sam Altman and other billionaires profiting from data center development. “Ordinary Americans, be damned.”
A white paper drawn up by Volusia county staff notes that the water demand of large-scale data centers is “well-founded and locally acute,” adding that large-scale data center water consumption poses “a genuine risk to a resource that has no substitute.”
“The water and electricity impact is huge, and the noise and low frequency sound is a remarkable public health concern,” said Volusia County planning and development services director Carol McFarlane, during last week’s meeting. “We do have regulations on the books that can help with data centers, but they’re not defined, and some of the technologies that are being used are also not defined in our regulations.”
Council member Dempsey further pointed out Volusia’s high susceptibility to sinkholes, according to a state geological survey, to in large part justify his opposition to data center development.
“Maybe 10 percent of the state is most susceptible to sinkholes, and we’re right in the heart of one of those areas,” he said. “My concern is, in this county, I believe we are more susceptible to sinkholes arising from one of these large-scale data centers sucking up all 5 million gallons [of water] a day.”
Limited authority
The proposed permanent ban from county council would only apply to unincorporated Volusia County, meaning that municipalities within Volusia — cities like Daytona Beach, DeLand, and Deltona — would maintain their own local authority to regulate or welcome data center development as they see fit.
Data center development regulation was approved by lawmakers as a limited exception under Florida SB 180, a 2025 law that broadly froze local governments’ ability to enact new land-use, growth management, or planning policies that are “more restrictive or burdensome” than older policies through Oct. 1, 2027.
Local government leaders across the state, including Republicans in Volusia, have criticized the aggressive attack on home rule. Several municipalities, including Orange County, have sued over SB 180. Volusia County council chairman Jeff Brower urged local residents to consider political candidates’ position on the issue this election season.
“We expect them to overturn that and … return local control to us, so that we can ban something that’s this important to our constituents,” he said.
The risk of legal challenges from enacting a permanent large-scale data center ban — from the state or data center developers — concerned some county council members. They initially said they would have preferred to move forward with a 12-month moratorium first.
“I just want to be careful,” said council member Jake Johansson. “I want to be thorough. But in the meantime, I want to stop it because I don’t know enough about it.”
Others, however, pointed out that they are, in fact, in “rented seats.” If they opted not to take action on a data center ban now, their future successors could abandon the idea entirely.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to go with your gut and you’ve just got to pull the trigger before somebody else grabs it from under you,” said Dempsey. “Carpe diem, seize the moment.”
The proposed permanent data center ban in Volusia — in effect today under the county’s “pending ordinance” doctrine, essentially freezing new development applications — will be drawn up as a formal ordinance by county staff. It will then face a review by the Planning and Land Development Regulation Commission and two public hearings.
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