P48 temporary moratorium on data centers and large load customers
What the county recorded
This item is not from the published agenda
It is a stretch of the recording that this archive identified as a separate matter — a call to order, a recess, or something taken up that the agenda does not list. There is no official title, no staff recommendation and no disposition, because the county never recorded one. Everything below is inferred.
The source document
The county’s minutes for Board of County Commissioners, Jun 16, 2026
The published PDF, as served by the county. This item is one entry in it.
What was said
Machine transcription of 1h 51m of recording, with speaker names inferred from voice matching. 66% of 413 lines carry a name. It shows what was said, not what was decided, and both the words and the names can be wrong.
Uh item P forty eight. Do we have proof?
Yes. Item P forty eight was published in the Timbei Times on May twenty seventh, twenty twenty-six.
Item P48 is an ordinance by the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners establishing a temporary moratorium on the submission and acceptance of applications for building permits, site plans, development orders, development agreements, special exception uses, conditional uses, rezoning, and comprehensive plan amendments related to data centers, large-scale data centers, and other. Large load customers within unincorporated Pasco County, providing for authority, legislative
findings of fact, temporary moratorium imposed, duration of temporary moratorium, severability, and an effective date. There's no action required on this, and staff is available with the presentation.
All right. I think it's important to do the presentation. I want everyone in the audience to know that this is the first of two meetings. We're gonna have the presentation. Uh we'll have a board discussion. And then we'll take public comment. This is something that we feel strongly about. I think we've anticipated it well. Uh we've we've listened to a lot of feedback from citizens. We've also got a lot of other emails from other sources as well. We are stopping or putting this more we're gonna be looking at putting this moratorium in place. Still gotta be voted on
for the following week, for following meeting. But it's something that we're looking at, we're putting all the provisions in. If you can do public comment today, I'm gonna ask you if you hear someone that's already said something that you want to say, please don't belabor it. We still got a lot of agenda to do. We're we're making sure we take the care take care of this up front. But we will be bringing it to the next meeting anyway, uh after we have discussion. You may hear us even make some extra changes to it that we may add. But again, if we're gonna do public comment, when we do the public comment, if you would, if someone's already spoken Yeah. Please
don't repeat it you're just gonna drag out the meeting. We we've heard loud and clear Uh to bring this forward to try to take care of your concerns because there are concerns too. All right. Please do. Thank you. Amanda
La Hill will be presenting this item.
All right. Thank you.
Good afternoon Commissioners. Amanda Hill, Planning Development, Economic Growth. I just wanted to state for the record that additional public comments were received by Plan and Development Economic Growth Department after this item was published, and these comments were submitted to the clerk's office for the file of record.
So the purpose of this ordinance is to enact a temporary moratorium on data centers, large-scale data centers, and large load customers as defined by Florida statutes. This moratorium would be a temporary pause to preserve the status quo while allowing the county to consider the implications and impacts of data centers within Pasco County. The moratorium is not a permanent ban on such uses at this time. The board has directed this temporary moratorium to allow staff to research land use compatibility
of data centers with surrounding land uses. consider impacts on electricity demand, water consumption, wastewater treatment capacity, and environmental concerns such as noise and light pollution. Research the efficacy of best practices from jurisdictions nationwide. And consider the appropriateness of data centers in Pasco County, and if necessary, develop appropriate definitions and performance standards to regulate or prohibit data centers for consideration by the board.
A growing number of local governments across the nation have enacted or are in the process of enacting moratorium to allow for careful consideration of this emerging land use issue. In Florida, the following counties and municipalities have adopted or are in the process of adopting a moratorium. And this list is a little outdated. We try to get as current information as possible, but I um actually needed to include Wakala County and Calhoun Counties. We actually found that out this morning. So it's an evolving
list.
The proposed moratorium would likely result in a number of potential revisions to the Land Development Code to regulate data centers within Pasco County. Existing conditions within our code do not specify data centers as a use within any zoning district. nor are there any standards that would regulate such a use. Additionally, with the signing of Center Bill 484, the state recognized under Florida Statutes 373.262 that data centers and other large load customers
present unique considerations that local jurisdictions should address.
So for the proposed 12-month moratorium, the county would not accept any applications for data centers and other large load customers, including building permits, site plans, development orders, and agreements, special exception uses, conditional uses, rezoning, and comprehensive plan amendments. This moratorium would not apply to server rooms and other computer rooms that typically house IT and network equipment that are incidental to the primary use on site.
On June 11, 2026, the LPA found a proposed ordinance consistent with a comprehensive plan. and included a recommendation to revise the exception that was proposed regarding equipment located internally to a building. This stemmed from a concern that entities such as a school board might be impacted if their server rooms or computer rooms are proposed to be located in a separate building but related to the primary use. The revision in the ordinance text is reflected in the walk-on edits provided to the board at the beginning of the meeting and are visible on screen.
Other items discussed include interpretations on what could qualify as an incidental use for the purpose of applicability in the moratorium. Planning development and economic growth indicated to the LPA that potential abuse of this exemption could be resolved through site permitting reviews and inspections for certificates of occupancy. Another item that was discussed was the establishment of a maximum power consumption for data centers which would not be subject to the moratorium. Planning development and economic growth indicated to
the LPA that the potential I'm sorry, um, indicated to the LPA that insufficient research had been completed to establish an appropriate maximum power consumption to facilitate the submission of data center applications during the moratorium. Additionally, Preliminary research by staff indicates that a lower power consumption is not strictly proportionate to the amount of water utilized by data centers and the grid. Finally, there are also other considerations regarding potential nuisances and land
use compatibility that would need to be studied during the period of the moratorium.
Planning Development and Economic Growth recommends that the board accepts public comment on this item. No other action is required by the Board of County Commissioners as this is the first of two public hearings. The second hearing, adoption hearing, will be heard on July 14, 2026 at 1.30 PM or as soon thereafter as say may be heard in Dade City. And I'm available for any questions that you may have. Okay,
Commissioner Weightman. Thank you. Thank you for the presentation. To supplement this, um I'd like Ralph Lair to come up. and give uh give us a all lesson on the state law or whoever whichever appropriate staff person who we can flush those details out as well.
Where is Ralph?
We can track him down, but is there any uh particular I mean uh just the attorneys that can talk about state law too, or any any particular aspect of law? I guess would be my question.
Yeah.
I'll just make a comment on it as far as the From what I can see, as the states made a decision that we need to go look at these, um I think we're gonna do it anyway, but as we're pretty much instructed to do so, we're b taking that step that the state wants us to take to to study these and make decisions. So there's Ralph.
I'm I'm glad the state's allowing us to do something. Yeah, a beautiful thing. Hey Ralph.
I I was walking
in
questions.
AI centers uh while we discussed
with the uh law that passed? Yes. Sure. So uh Senate Bill four eighty four. I'll just give you a basic summary of uh of that bill.
Specifies that agencies may not enter into non disclosure agreements or other contracts restricting the agency from disclosing information about potential data center development to members of the public. maintains the authority of local governments to exercise the power of responsibility for comprehensive planning and land development regulations granted by law with respect to large load customers. The bill also establishes that large load customers may not be considered an electric substation
for the purpose of the statutes. provides definitions of the terms controlled by foreign country or concerns, foreign entity, large load customers, public utility, data centers, and large scale data centers. requires the Public Service Commission to develop minimum large load tariff requirements for public electricity, Uh electric utilities. The tariff requirement requirements must be reasonably ensure the large load customers, such as large data centers, pay for their own
costs of service, minimize the risk of non-payment of such costs to the maximum extent practical, and include provisions to prevent public utility from providing electric services to a foreign entity, large load cost. Customer. Prohibits public
Almost done here. Um prohibits public uh electric utilities from knowingly provide services to large load facilities owned or controlled by foreign customers, and establishes a distinct large scale data center consumptive use permit. So basically it focuses mainly on the on the um It left you all with a discretion with how you uh y you uh do that. They did give definitions for Um provide definitions for large use data
centers uh in the in the statute. Um But It it it gives you all the power to do what you need to do uh and and make your own decision locally. You really focus on on forward control at the state level.
Thank you Ralph. And uh for the county attorney, it was mentioned during public comment this morning uh that there were some counties that had uh permanent moratoriums on data centers. Um I think it'd be good to explain the The federal case law and share with folks why the moratorium is temporary and is only allowable up to 12 months. And that way folks understand as
folks advocate one way or another against the moratorium from around the state, that they understand. And the local government restraints and why moratorium of any type is limited to 12 months.
I'd be happy to, Commissioner. Um moratoria are designed to allow local governments in the land use context to um take a pause and review their regulations for something that was unexpected or has become
a problem in the community, uh problem for health public health safety and welfare. Um The U.S. Supreme Court in 2002 took up the question of whether or not a moratoria was a temporary taking of property rights in Tahoe Sierra Preservation Council versus the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. They found that it was not a temporary taking if
it was if the moratorium was designed to have a reasonable duration. So basically, by implication, they have said if it's too long, it would be a temporary taking. But it and so the that based and the other one
of taking.
I it is that if you have if the government has taken a private property owner's rights uh to their piece of property that they are entitled to cons uh compensation under both the Florida and Federal Constitutions. Um in in the subsequent case law that has come out the general the the general
cases have indicated that a year is a reasonable time period. Um a in my opinion, a permanent moratorium would subject the board to a temporary or permanent taking case based on federal case law, based on the federal constitution and state constitution. In addition, in Florida, we have something called the uh Burt J. Harris Private Property Rights Act. That
would also kick in because you the the argument would be made that you've inordinately burdened the property um by permanently disallowing the use. Um the purpose of the moratorium is to evaluate the use and see what restrictions need to be made to protect the public health safety and welfare. Um
And if those concerns can be addressed by regulation. So there might be a case where. you would adopt regulations and a project wouldn't be able to comply with them. But the in my opinion the taking the position that it can just be prohibited in your land development code without analysis
is that is a concern that you will likely be sued.
Interesting.
Thank you. Okay. Any thoughts or comments? Okay. So with that presentation, um as you can see we have the flexibility to go through it. Um we even get granting powers from the state, which is kind of unique this time of the this time of the year, uh to actually do what we think we need to go do. So with that said, we are gonna be looking at it. Uh we're gonna take public comment now. Again, if you would Just don't repeat something else someone has said so we can get to everybody and then get on
the w with the rest of our business. First person signed up is
Mr. Chair, I have someone who's signed up and they have um for the agenda item they put general and our general topics were this morning, so I just wanted to double check um to make sure that the individual didn't want to talk on something for this afternoon. Um Logan O'Leary. You have general written down? Do you um is it on anything this afternoon? Hold on a second. Is it anything for this afternoon? Yeah. Okay, do you know which item you're talking on?
Uh C17, P54, and P55.
Okay, thank you.
Okay, so fifty-four will be coming up later on, fifty-five as well.
Thank you. Okay. So I'm gonna start at the top of my list and work my way through for item P forty eight. We have Anne Fauber. Faber, sorry. Uh followed by Annie DeMaio. Followed by Donna Bradley.
If we could could we have like two people line up behind this person and keep that going?
Okay, if you could state your name and address for the record and then you may begin.
Sure. Anne Fauber, [address removed]. Thank you. Our natural resources are something to treasure. One of those resources, our land, is far too valuable for data centers. We need to use our resources carefully and thoughtfully. When planning for commercial and industrial spaces, we need to plan for businesses that will support our community by employing people locally and with the intent of it being long-term employment. Creating a job that lasts for a year as a data center would do. does
nothing for Pasco County residents long term, while the negative effects would remain with us long far longer than any job there would. If Pasco residents aren't driving to Tampa or St. Pete, that helps local businesses. From picking up lunch to errand running, the spending stays local. That sales tax helps the county. Shorter commutes translates to less gas, which is better for our residents' bank accounts, and it's less strain on our roadways and, more importantly, our time. We need businesses that plan to continually employ people in order for it to be a viable
venture, making it worthwhile. for Pasco County residents. When comparing pros and cons, I don't know of any pros. I don't see a job that expires within a year as a pro, but the con list is lengthy. They're obnoxiously loud, number one. Number two, they consume an astonishing amount of energy. Number three, they consume a vast amount of water. We have been in drought conditions here in Pasco County and of the state for years. I can only
water my lawn once a week, which does not make me happy. Why data centers would even be considered is disturbing on one hand and just plain silly on the other. Agricultural irrigation already sucks out enough. Number four, data centers will increase the potential for sinkholes by drawing up so much water. Number five, the amount of water used will increase drought conditions and dry out vegetation already fighting for it with climate change. We do have wildfires in our
area and we've had a wildfire on this side of the county within the last six months. Data centers do not draw tourists to our area. Data centers number seven do not promote my or my community's general welfare or the pursuit of happiness. In fact, they will suck on our resources like leeches and parasites, neither of which is good. I've listed my cons. I would like to know what the Commission considers to be pros that could outweigh these cons. Thank you.
Thank you. Any de mayo?
Folks, please do not clap. Folks, please do not clap. It'll just delay everything down.
Um hi, uh my name is Annie Damayo. I'm um my address is [address removed]. I uh am a past president and vice president of the TAT Civic Association, and Catherine knows me. Now, I don't have a long speech. I I have been doing a lot of investigating and research on data centers. And my question to you is a couple of questions. And I'd like
to have you either maybe maybe eventually put it on record or something to this effect. What are what is your checklist? What are you gonna be looking at when each application comes through? I mean they could be I'm it could be an enormous center, it could be taking a lot of acreage that will be um affecting our wildlife, impacting our communities. It could go it can impact our communities miles of you know, throughout miles of what the
center will be. My my question is hypothetically, what is the benefit? What is what do you see as a benefit? Is it just financial to affect and impact a huge community? Is that all it's about? That's what I like to know. So my question is is W will you have a checklist for us to know how you're going to be looking at each application if it does come through, you know, after the moratorium of of twelve
months is has been um has been um finished. And w w um and you know, if you decide that you don't wanna make it permanent, I think we should make it permanent. I don't think a m a temporary is good enough, but I do understand your position and you do need to review and you need to discuss it And you had to give at least the year to do that. And I respect that. And I and I'm just gonna finish with that and let everybody else think about it and and and also in
in in this room, we all came for the same reason. because we know it's gonna impact our community one way or another. And I just want you all to just think about that in that year's time. Thank you so much.
And as the next speaker comes up, I'd just like to say that as we do these two public hearings, when we do come back after a year. We're gonna be bringing another public hearing back to everybody. So you're gonna be able to see checklist, details, etcetera. You'll be able to comment again about what we're looking at doing before we actually do it. So it'll be it'll be it will be another public hearing process just like this one here.
And would that go to the planning commission as well? So you have four
options
the planning commission as well.
Following our next speaker our next speaker, um I I didn't see the name written down, but you live on [address removed]. No, no, uh uh uh Ms. Bradley, you're next. You're next, mm. Ms. Bradley, you're next, but after you. I just wanted to make sure that they were lined up behind you. You're you're good. And then followed by Rebecca, um and I I'm sorry, but I don't know how to pronounce your last name. Is it Teft? Okay, great. And then followed by um Daisy Carroll. I I appreciate it. Thank you, Ms. Bradley.
Okay. My name is Donna Bradley and I live at [address removed]. Thank you. Um first of all I wanted to say thank you for allowing us this opportunity to speak because I know that that's not done in every place across the country, so we appreciate that. And I also wanted to say that I was so proud of our county for making the decision. recently to buy eighteen hundred acres of land because that is why we moved to this county because it has beautiful Uh
pockets of nature. Starkey, the Starkey Park. We live I walk through that park every day when I go on my walk in the morning. And My husband and I are nature lovers. We're into sailing, not motorists, we're sailing. Um, and we sail out of this area and we're I'm into birding recently, which we have incredible birds in Pasco County. And my understanding and the research that I've done is that There these data centers are very loud, that
it's like a plane it's like being in a airport with planes that take off that aren't taking off. Like the pa planes are getting ready to take off, but they never take off. It's constant noise. And that's not good for wildlife. for the birds that I've come to love, you know, in the last couple of years and getting into birding and So I just feel like If we make this decision and we destroy What's
our most valuable resource in Pasco County is is our natural wildlife and our I mean our nature. then you can't get back again. Like once you make that decision, it's done. You can't go back and And undo it. So if you've destroyed our natural habitat. i you've made a decision that you can't go back on. And so I hope you'll carefully think about that because you're taking away from the citizens You know what we moved here for. And the reason
why we don't have to pay taxes in Florida is because we're attracting tourists, and the tourists help to offset us being us paying tack pa taxes. And so it'll affect us not only economically but possibly having to pay taxes in the future and everything that it does to our water resources, our electricity, but also The way that we live.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Good afternoon. My name is Marilyn Hollerin and I'm sorry I didn't write it down on the piece of paper. I live at [address removed]. I am the president of the Pasco County Chapter of the Democratic Environmental Caucus of Florida, and I speak for our chapter today. We're here because Pasco County is one of the most flood vulnerable counties in Florida, and approving hyperscale data centers here without a flood impact study puts residents infrastructure and public
emergency resources at serious risk. Data center developers are already scouting Pasco County now. Adjacent counties are already approving projects. Once a proposal is filed with a construction timeline, this board's options narrow fast. We are not asking you to stop development. We're asking for a moratorium long enough to study different various questions. And the one I'm talking about is: what happens to Pasco County now? neighborhoods when a building the size of 75 football fields
sitting on impervious pavement is placed into a watershed that already floods. Pasco County is the second most flood damaged county in Florida, according to FEMA. Portions of the county sit within FEMA designated special flood hazard areas, where stormwater systems were not designed to handle the runoff generated by facilities of this scale. A hyperscale data center campus can cover three to five million feet of impervious surface. The building's
foundation, rooftops, access roads, and parking, every inch of rain that falls on that surface becomes immediate stormwater runoff, discharged into the watershed at a rate that could take hours or days to absorb. In a county that floods in a thunderstorm, this is not a minor engineering footnote. And These facilities cannot be quickly evacuated. A data center contains billions of dollars of equipment, Hazardous cooling chemicals, backup diesel fuel tanks
that, in a flood event, become environmental contamination sources. There is a data center approved by Polk County where the residents were really not part of the decision making or had no opportunity to be heard. They felt like they were misled by the time they understood what was going to happen. So anyway, we are downstream in more than one ways. Um w what this ab what the board approves can still be shaped now, but only before the
permit is filed. So please impose the moratorium um pending a cumulative flood and stormwater impact study. require independent hydrological model modeling of any proposed data center site and make these studies public and subject to resident comment. Thank you very much for your time for hearing our opinions. Thanks.
Good afternoon. Thank you for providing me this opportunity. I'm Reb Rebecca Tett, [address removed].
S one thing was already mentioned, so I'm gonna mention just other parts of it. Uh sound was mentioned, the audible sound was mentioned. I want to talk about the inaudible sound, the infrastructure sound. It is 20 Hertz, which is below anything that you know that you're even sensing. It is known, Dr. Paul Huru confirmed that in Infrastructure sound at high volumes
directly affects the central nervous system and heart function. So this affects local communities as well as the employees. It has a significant impact on children, given that they're in their throes of brain development. This sound creates constant stress that creates permanent learning disability. I think that that's very, very important when we think, I'm stuttering, when we think about the future of our people. The other
thing that is very concerning to me is the waste. In 2022, we made 62 million tons of tech waste, laptops, phones, whatever. These data centers, beginning at three years, have to begin changing out their computers and all this technological equipment. Because it has become outdated. As fast as we are moving in technology, this equipment has got to be replaced. So
that is going to be added to this tons, tons of waste that we are already producing. 22% in 2022 was recycled. The balance went into dumps and landfills. This is full of lead. Mercury, cadmium, hazardous waste material, it's gonna affect whatever grows out of the ground, affect a cow eating the grass, will affect a human being that comes into contact with it. So it has a broader effect than than just being
this dump and leaching to like a negative uh landfill, because it gets into the soil and the water and affects our farms. It affects the cow that you may eat tomorrow. Um
There is actually a pretty short life to a lot of the infrastructure. Your IT coming at three to five years, your mechanical systems at 10, and then 15 years for even a larger portion of the infrastructure that begins to need to be repaired. That is a really short life for a facility that can destroy thousands of acres of land because it expands at least 20 miles around it to to employ
450 people. A 200-bed hospital would employ eight hundred plus people and only take ten acres as opposed to seven hundred a thousand acres. Oh my time. Thank you very much.
Thank you. So Deus Carol followed by Paxton Page Gray followed by I think it's Uh Lita Leadley? Sorry. Lady Gonzalez? Thank you.
Hi, I'm Doris Carroll. I live at [address removed]. I'm going to be speaking today about public health. I'm a registered nurse, so that's really important to me. We are here because hyperscale data centers bring chronic, measurable public health harms to the communities where they operate. And Pasco County has no health impact baseline, no health monitoring. requirement and no community health protection standard in place before a single permit is issued.
Okay. We are asking for one thing before any permit is approved. Establish a community health baseline, require a health impact assessment, and make both public so this board and these residents know what they're voting on. Let me be specific. These are not theoretical risks. They are documented impacts of operating data centers on surrounding communities. Diesel particulate matter. Data centers maintain banks of large diesel
backup generators tested monthly under full load, producing fine particulate exhaust in residential airsheds for hours at a time on a schedule that never ends as long as the facility operates. Fine particulate matter is linked to asthma, cardiovascular disease, and premature death. Pasco County already has a lot of the fact that the fact Has elevated rates of both. The second is chronic noise. Cooling equipment runs 24 hours a day. Low frequency noise from large HVAC arrays and cooling towers
has documented associations with sleep disruption, hypertension, and stress-related illnesses, with children and the elderly mostly acutely affected. And third, heat. Data centers, exhaust and normal. Quantities of heat, waste heat into the surrounding environment. In a Florida county already experiencing worsening heat events, adding industrial heat load into residential neighborhoods is a direct public health intervention and not a beneficial one. None of these harms require
an accident. They are routine, continuous, permitted operation of the facility. Every day for decades. And right now Pasco County has no requirement to measure any of them before or after a permit is issued.
We ask for three things. First, require a community health impact assessment before any data center permit vote, establishing a baseline and projecting health effects on surrounding residents. Second, mandate continuous air quality and noise monitoring as an operating permit condition with public reporting. Third, make health monitoring data publicly Accessible in real time, not locked behind a records request. Pasco County residents
breathe the air next to what this board permits. They sleep next to the noise it allows. They live with the heat it accepts. They deserve to know the health costs before you vote, not after. And they've been living with it for a decade. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Uh
move to receive and file.
Second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye.
I'm sorry, you can set your name and address for the record.
on Newport Ritchie, Border Hudson. I am a student at the Florida School of Professional Psychology, working on my doctorate in clinical psychology and my hope is that one day I will be able to return and make my services here in Pasco County, the county where I grew up. But the issue is that if we end up taking data centers here that could devastate our local water source. My family uses well water and I've seen the videos of other residents from other places around the country that have
had uh data centers put next to their houses and how that then ch changes their water quality. So their water pressure. They'll be getting brown water out of their faucets if they have any water at all. They may even have to buy new uh well equipment to extend their wells. We are here because Pasco County sits directly above the Floridian aquifer. This is a drinking water source for millions of Floridians. Hyperscale data centers are among the largest industrial water
consumers on earth. Approving here one here without a cumulative aquifer study is a decision. This county cannot undo. Once it is done, that water is gone. The Florida aquifer does not replenish within months. Even if this drought ends, there will still be a water shortage in the aquifer. It takes more than months to restore the aquifer water. The issue is that you can't refill it. It recharges over decades. So if we were to take one of these projects locally. Um for example,
a single hyperscale data center uses evaporative cooling and draws between one and five million gallons per day. Those are gallons that we cannot put back. That water evaporates into the atmosphere. It does not return to the aquifer. It does not return to the watershed. It is permanently removed from the local water cycle. This water then will not go back into our well water. It will not go back into our county water, which means that, you know, the added residents we keep adding to this county will not have access to the water they
need to do their daily uh living activity. Yeah. In April, Polk County approved a $2.6 billion, 4.4 million square foot hyperscale campus in Fort Meade, drawing from the same aquifer that we use. So, other counties drawing from the same aquifer also impact Pasco County's water system.
So that water is already happening upstream. Pasco County cannot control what Polk County approved, but we can control what happens here. So
Our request is that we do a water study and we see how much our aquifer can actually handle, that the citizens actually have access to this, and that we have a say in what happens to our land so that we can make decisions for the better health of our family in our county. Thank you for your time.
Thank you. No clapping. So following our our next speaker, I have Christy Zimmer, followed by Christina Lacetera.
Oh. How Um Mr. Um could you tell me your name?
James Shirk, the SHIR-KM further down.
I'm sorry.
He's waiting.
All right. Never
mind.
James Sherk. Okay. I've got
I have four people ahead of you. Okay. All right.
My name is Lady Gonzalez and the address is [address removed]. My name is Lady Gonzalez and I'm a doctorate student of psychology. I introduced myself this way because it's pretty much established that the social sciences, including psychology, should make decisions that better our communities. And it has long been proven that while therapy and psychological services help individuals, we can't ignore the systemic challenges that communities face and their effects on their mental health. So, in the efforts to uphold
my ethical duties duties, I'm violently against AI and data centers. The Booker 2025 article shows that living near AI data centers is abhorrent to the health of individuals. Data centers increase the risk for respiratory and heart diseases. They increase air pollution, which directly affects the local temperatures, often raising them enough to impact climate in the area. Data centers consistently contribute to water shortages, using clean water to cool down the intricate systems, which Also affects local water purity and water pressure. Alongside water use, data
centers have an increased need for energy, a cost that many locals tend to bear. And data centers have followed our country's history of environmental racism as they're often placed in areas with marginalized communities, which are the most impacted. Though most citizens disagree with data centers, government systems often ignore our pleas to invest instead in programs that build things will that will aid in building up the community. The Booker article finds that data center's proposed job market is more fallacy than truth, as many of those buildings reduce community budgets, engage in wealth extraction from the community,
and use underpaid labor while causing economic displacement. The lie of a booming job market is one that often comes with more lax regulations, easy zoning privileges, and a tax break from the local government that further moves funds away from our local community. While the data center may require Labor to build, it often requires few people to run. So the allure of a booming job market is temporary at best and unstable at worst. While many local government bodies have decided to ignore the valid public outcry towards data centers, you all here have an opportunity to represent your
citizens' concerns and be our collective voice in this public matter. So I hope you take this opportunity to represent us and place public concerns over private financial growth. Yeah.
Thank you.
Good afternoon. Christy Zimmer, [address removed]. I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you for taking this into consideration. And Um, if you could consider having the next meeting in the evening so that more people could show up. A five o'clock meeting on this issue I think would be incredibly important. I am very concerned about the fact that this moratorium is only for the mega centers. This is not okay for the micro, small, medium, or large data centers. That's
exactly how they're going to get around this moratorium. Just like the gentleman that spoke at the Planning Commission meeting about how we uh how he doesn't need a zoning change. He's already received uh approval from the power company with Lakucci. Read uh River Electric for the 19.9 megawatts in order to stay below the trigger points. He thought his water would be reclaimed until he found out that we don't have enough for the people that who already need it. So he would be
using potable water. 350 million gallons, I believe was the number that was used of potable water that will be contained. contaminated because they do have a coolant that's into it and where does that discharge go? This is flying below the radar. This isn't okay. I call to put we we need to protect the people. I'm begging you to please amend this moratorium to include micro, small, and medium and large as well as mega
until we have more research and better information and understand the long-term effects On our people, homesteads, communities, livestock, and nature. Please amend this before you sign it. Thank you very much.
Please, please. We'll be quiet, otherwise we'll have to have you removed.
Okay, so following our next speaker I have Veronia Lacerda. Uh followed by Sean Gregory.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen of the board. Thank you all for taking your time today and allowing us to speak. My name is Christina Lacerta and [address removed]. Um I'm here today because I want to speak to you all, just like everyone else here has uh so far about the we're asking you to protect our lands in Pasco County and the expansion of these data centers. And as the lady previously just said, we'd like for you to consider uh putting a moratorium on all data centers until we can do more research, not just these large ones, but
these smaller ones too, because many small ones will deplete our
Uh Pasco County residents are already asking to conserve our water during these drought conditions. We face water and restrictions and increasing concerns about the long-term sustainability of our water supply. And I know people have already addressed that, so I'm not gonna get into all that, but we do deserve some answers as the public, as your constituents. We know we talked about where this water is gonna come from, possibly these aquifers, but you know, as this gentleman pointed out earlier, there's only so much water and we draw off of it. A lot. Um, you know, how
how much water is gonna be consumed annually and that's gonna depend on how many data centers you all allow and hopefully you'll allow none. You know, what chemicals are being used and do they have to use those chemicals? Are there alternatives? Are there alternatives to where we can build these things if you need those things so badly? Can you not put it offshore somewhere? We don't have to hear it and see it? I don't know. Have you considered any of that? Anyways, how it's treated, how how residents can be assured that our groundwater, our wetlands, our rivers, and our drinking water supplies are gonna remain protected. And beyond water concerns,
these facilities require hundreds of acres of land that are often currently used for agriculture, open space, wildlife habitats. Once these lands are converted to industrial use, they're lost forever. You're never gonna get it back. You can't break you can't bring it back. Pasco County is home to diverse wildlife, including protected species that depend on increasingly fragmented habitats. I personally have five gopher tortoises on my property right now, and they're driven from the the building there on Little Road, all that Newport corners.
You've driven all of the deer into my backyard and I love it. But uh it's really sad to see them kill themselves in traffic. It's really sad to see these gopher tortoises who will kill themselves if you pick 'em up and you move 'em. Sometimes they get really disturbed and they'll go kill themselves. I just would like for you all to protect our habitats and our environment a little bit more. We should not be replacing farms, fields, forests, and wildlife corridors with massive industrial complexes that provide relatively few permanent jobs while placing additional demands on our water, power, and our
infrastructure systems. I understand the state law limits development moratoriums to 12 months, or the federal law actually now. Therefore, I respect the federal government. I quickly ask you all to enact the maximum allowable moratorium on new data center development while conducting a comprehensive study of the impacts of water resources, wildlife habitats, agricultural, land, infrastructure, and surrounding communities. At the conclusion of the study, I urge you to adopt zoning and land use regulations that prohibit large-scale data centers in Pasco County. The the decisions
you make today will shape Pasco County for generations. Thank you.
Mm-hmm.
Is this the last speaker? No.
Hi, my name is Veronica Lazarta. I live in [address removed]. I'm here in opposition to building the data centers and respectfully to permanently ban data centers. I have been gen I have been an engineer for over 30 years. Being an engineer, I am all for technology, but not for these data centers. And I'll explain why. One of my jobs I have worked was at the Crystal River Power Plant that provides power north And south of Crystal River, from close to Orlando all the way to St. Pete. I work with the coal units four and five, and in one day the
power plant will go through a huge amount of coal. I'm talking the size of a foot football field to at least 20 feet high. The data center alone would use all of the coal and power in one day, not to mention the power has to be refined and scrubbed with lime injection for pollution control emissions. We do not have the infrastructures supported data center. Center. We have already under tremendous growth with all these new homes and buildings being built. I heard someone talk about components being outdated and the need to be replaced. I work with semiconductors and the components have material declaration sheets.
A lot of these parts have hazardous materials, including lead, even those that claim to be Rojas, which is lead-free, sometimes from the solder or already in the part. Components also contain barium, silicone, geranium, and the colour. And the list goes on. For example, that will go into the landfill. As for the water consumption, the amount of water data centers will take and the chemicals that will be dumped into the landfills unrefined, our drinking water, wells, rivers, and lands will be contaminated. How will those chemicals be controlled so that we won't be poisoning the community? Where will the water come from?
We are in a drought now with water centers. The data centers will also radiate harmful RF at frequencies which will also cause harm to humans and animals. They will also create noise. How will that be controlled? Data centers are taking over people's land in other states. People are losing everything they have worked for their whole life to be taken by these data centers, causing irreversible harms. These data centers are not giving anything back to the community. It will not create substantial jobs for the county. It will take away everything from our forefathers have fought
for. Data centers are not for we the people. And we the people are not for the data centers. Thank you.
I had called Sean Gregory, but you're here for another item. I apologize. I will when the item comes up I will give you a a a your name a call. Um right now we have um signed up for item P forty eight, we have Michael Polterac. and um James Shirk. Followed by Jonathan Decker.
Thank you.
I was a few minutes late and did not take the uh oath. It's
okay. It's a legislative item. You don't have to
hello everybody again. My name is Michael Pultoric. Uh address is actually protected. So So um couple of things to add here. They're hitting on the water pretty good. My issue is the threshold that you're starting with. There's a thirteen hundred acre complex being worked on right now in Arcadia. It's the biggest one in the state. This should scare you. There's a gentleman in this room who's trying to put forward a nineteen point seven megawatt location in our county
that will take I wrote down at the last meeting three hundred thousand gallons of water every day to run it because reclaimed is not available. It's underneath your threshold. You won't be able to do anything about it with this moratorium. The threshold is part of what we need to talk about. I may be the only one in here who's actually worked inside Mass Com data centers in many natural disasters. Okay? I have a little bit of experience with this. Florida is prone to droughts, wildfires,
flooding, and hurricanes. We are a natural disaster magnet. I am telling you, data centers of any size do not belong in this state.
Microcenters that are a direct support function of existing physical businesses, I have no issue with. If it's attached to a hospital, attached to a university, attached to a school, I have no issue with it. And we need data centers. We do. They just don't belong in Florida. They belong in a mountain, in other states, where it's cooler, they don't have the issues we do, we're competing for drinking water, etc. Well let's get on to the bigger issue here. I'm
gonna connect some dots for everybody. There's a reason that the power companies aren't showing up and fighting this whole thing. Okay, there's a reason power generation is not part of this discussion. It takes six to nine years to build out a new grid to get enough power to these data centers. The reason they're not talking about it, and I have plenty of documentation here to prove it to you, is because these data centers, before they're built out, are going to be using portable nuclear energy. Mr. Engel, these
are not micro reactors, these are SMRs. I'll give you all the intel you want on it. These have been underway since twenty nineteen and funded by the Department of Energy. They've already rewritten three of the CFR chapters to include licensing, regulation, safety, preparedness, and response to these nuclear reactors. I'm pro nuclear. at secure sites like Tico,
Lake Crystal River, Homeland Security actually pays for the law enforcement presence for those to keep them secure. Any data center that says Mega in front of it, we don't need it here. Okay, I mean this.
Portable nuclear in our neighborhoods. We don't need it. That needs to be the real discussion here. To not allow that in Pasco County. We need voices that are going to represent all of your people and give you all of the information. And for that reason, I'm sharing with you that I'm officially running for the state seat to be a voice for our people for District 54. Thank you.
No clapping. We have bailiffs in the back that will escort you out.
Don't clap.
Uh good afternoon, Commissioners, and thank you for uh taking the time to listen. My name is James Shark. I reside at [address removed]. I'm here to speak on behalf of Kimberly Overman. She is running for U.S. House of Representatives, District 12. which includes Pasco County, west of Interstate seventy five. We're here because a hyperscale data center plugs into the nuclea energy Florida Grid. Every family in
Pasco County helps pay for the infrastructure it requires. whether we were asked or not, whether they were asked or not and whether this board knows it or not. Developers are scouting Pasco County right now. Duke Energy is already expanding its transmission infrastructure northward through Central Florida to serve industrial demand, which means we are on the map. Once a proposal arrives on this dais, the rate impact on Capasco County Families. It's already baked in. We're not asking you to stop development.
We're asking the board to answer one question before any permit is issued. What does this data center add to the Duke Energy Bill of every Pasco County household? And does this board know what that number is before it votes? How the cost shift works and who pays. Here's the mechanism. A hyperscale data center draws approximately 100 megawatts of continuous power, equivalent to more than 80,000 Florida homes. To serve that load, Duke Energy must build or ups upgrade substations, transmission lines, and generation capacity. These
infrastructure infrastructure costs are not charged to the data center. Under public service commission rate setting rules, they're classified as system costs and recovered across all ratepayers, every household, small business, school, farm, household, including every household family, every Pasco County family. Florida residential electricity rates have risen more than thirty percent since twenty twenty. Duke Energy has filed repeated rate increases before the PSC, citing industrial load as a driver.
The board is the only place where this gets a vote. The Ford Mead Warn Ford Mead Warning, as the previous gentleman said, In April, Polk County approved a two point six billion dollar Pepper scale campus in Fort Meade, drawing roughly a hundred megawatts from the same Duke Energy, Florida. that serves Pasco County. No re no rate impact analysis, no independent modeling of load of impacts. The load. is already on the grid shared by Pasco County. What is it? Board approves
next compounds it. The only question is whether Pasco County findings found out find out before or after the permit is signed. We ask three things require an independent grid cost shift analysis and projected per household rate impact study before any data permit vote. Second, mandated community benefit agreement with ratepayer relief fund contribution as a condition of approval. And third, Not Put that rate impact. Yeah, analysis on the public record before this before
this board votes, not after. Thank you very much.
Thank you. We have Jonathan uh Decker followed by Emerson Martin, followed by Matthew Grimes.
Chairman
Move
no
received and follow.
Second.
All in favor say aye. Aye.
Yeah, no additional time. Everybody say everything.
Thank
you.
What's your name?
Jonathan Decker.
Jonathan Decker, okay. Thank you. Thank you. Emerson Martin, followed by Matthew Grimes.
Can you hear me? Yes. Okay. Um Emerson Martin, [address removed].
One of the greatest parts of being in the United States is the fact that we are just one of fifty states, fifty very diverse states, and within them their own individual local communities and governments. Because of this, we can look to them and learn from their accomplishments and their mistakes.
I recommend everyone here, especially our commissioners, to do their research into these communities where data centers have already been put and listen to the stories of these regular, everyday people who live by these facilities. They're unhappy and their mental and physical health and well-being are being disastrously impacted by this. I recommend that you and everyone here simply start by listening to the video I live 400 yards from Mark Zuckerberg's massive data center. On YouTube by a more perfect
union. And also, we saw what AI data centers don't want you to see from PBS Terra.
and please protect those who cannot speak. The plants and the animals may not be able to pay taxes, But they do matter and are significant to maintaining our ecosystems. And if their well being is not a concern, Please remember that if their home is disrupted, they will find their way they will find their way into our homes. As for the noise that others have mentioned, as someone whose background is in mental health, I have to tell you I cannot imagine what that will do to the mental health of our people in an area like Pasco,
where the mental health and substance abuse is already an issue. Please put in this moratorium and really listen to those who have already been living by these centers, not just those who benefit monetarily from them. I will tell you, as a proud resident of Pasco, I do not want any sinners here at all. I hope that this goes through and throughout the year, this moratorium, you will listen to us and our desire to not see any of these data centers put here. You represent us and we are your people. Please, please, please
do not do this. Please do not allow data centers to be here. Please do not do this to us. Thank you so much for your time.
Thank you. Following our our next speaker, we have David, is it Milton Burger? Followed by Kimberly Cox. Thank you. You may proceed.
Good afternoon, Commissioner. Thank you. Um Matt Grimes, [address removed]. I'm here in support of the data center m moratorium. I'm a longtime tech worker and I'm also uh not anti tech or anti data center per se. However, um I am kind of against this the whole speculation driving the data center boom that's going on right now. Uh we've heard a lot about the direct environmental and economic impact, so I'm not gonna beat on that drum. What I will I what I'd like to examine a little bit is um
about the indirect short order consequences. Um Letting this genie out of the bottle right now in the current state uh without thoughtful and deliberate consideration in the regulation will be a burden on the citizens of Piasco County uh big time. Um my question would be do we have enough skilled workers to even support a data center boom and data center development in this county? If not, those skilled workers will have to be moved in to support projects on a transient basis, which will drive
up housing costs rapidly in short order. Already taxed roads will have to contend with increased commercial traffic. If it's not repaired by us, the taxpayers, then it will be taxes on broken windshields. punctured tires, damaged suspension, and even uh more lost economic activity due to residents sitting in traffic.
People are afraid and rightfully so. There's also like a big s there's also a big significant gap in education and the types of data centers and their use cases. We should take this time to clearly define, evaluate, and regulate these use cases. For example, is the facility used for leasing rack space to local or co-located companies and organizations? Or are they they're just there to lease power, um, uh compute power to Silicon Valley tech firms who are going to be extracting
Pasco resources for their profit? The cost of the residents of Pasco County, economically, health-wise, and environmentally is too high to allow any data center projects to go forward at this time. Let's take a step back and ensure that we do not burden Pasco's citizens with further impactful development. Thank you for your time.
Thank you. Maybe step up to the podium? Thank you.
Hi, my name is Kimberly Cox. I live at um [address removed] and I am a representative of Voices of Florida. Um, I just wanted to say that when I heard about this meeting, um, my initial thoughts were absolutely not, because that's my initial thoughts since I was a child. Sarah Connor was an icon of my generation after all. Um, but also as an artist, I think it steals art and creativity and I'm an artist, I'm already starving. Um then I thought about the misinformation
and the disinformation and all of the problems that we faced as a direct result of that. And then I thought about water conservation in Florida and how that was a huge issue and the ever rising cost of electricity and how much I already pay to stay cool for nine months a year. Then I thought about how marginalized communities are disproportionately affected by centers like this and how this will not create much-needed jobs that will replace them. Then I thought about how corporations lie to and steal from hard working people. They make backdoor deals and they get us
on board by swearing they have done their due diligence, but then they use their billions of dollars to buy their way out after the damage is over. Uh look at the opioid crisis, look at the housing crisis. Uh but I only have three minutes or less um because, you know, your time is valuable just like mine is, but I think that every voice in this room and every voice that votes for you, every constituent and everybody that doesn't vote for you, their voice matters. And to rush us through these things I've been to a million meetings like this. I
already know that that's gonna happen. So I don't really have time to delve into the statistics of any of those things. So I'll leave this with you instead. Oh, sorry. The only experts that you need to listen to are the members of communities that already have data centers like this. They will tell you firsthand what their lives are like, what their consequences of these data centers are. They are the experts in the headaches, the disruptions of sleep, the overall decline in their health. They are the ones
that see what is happening to the wildlife and the infrastructure in their hometowns. Just like my three days are my three minutes isn't long enough right now. One year is not long enough for you to fully grasp what all of this entails. You all have other jobs, you have families, you have commitments, you have things that you're gonna focus on. You're not gonna spend forty hours a week for the next year focusing on this. It's not possible. I understand that. So what I'm telling you is Just get it off the table completely. Earn your money for the county elsewhere.
Other center other things can come in and buy your property and generate revenue for you. that is not going to end up being the end of us all. I mean, by the end of all of this we're gonna have two computers that are talking to each other as they drink the last of the water because we're all dead. I mean it's a reality.
Thank you.
David Milton Burger.
Thank you, Commissioner. I do have documents for the uh move to receive
and file.
Sorry.
All in favor say aye. Aye. That's right.
Hi oh of course course board. Thank you very much commissioners. My name is David Miltonberger. Address is [address removed].
Thank you very much, Commissioners. Again, my name is David Miltenberger with Stellaris Data Centers. I am here to ask the county to allow one small data center, a 19.9 megawatt facility, approximately 200,000 square feet. That you'll you'll like this part. We actually use I got more information since the last meeting from my construction group. We actually use no water for cooling. None. Two hundred thousand square foot facility that would use about nineteen point nine megawatts, that
uses less than approximately two hundred thousand gallons a year, and that's just for the restrooms. That's the about equal to what a coffee shop uses.
Our facility would provide about three million dollars in tax revenues for this beautiful county. We currently have a 30-acre site under contract next to a brand new substation inside the 600-acre double double branch industrial development fronting Interstate 75, already zoned industrial with no residential neighbors anywhere around. I want you to know I listened to the community. I heard their concerns last week, and there are many, and they are reasonable. No one wants a giant utility hungry facility draining the
county's water. I don't either. And I'll be honest, last week I spoke before I had all of my facts. I have them now. As I mentioned, my general contractor, one of the country's leading data center builders, confirmed in writing just yesterday our facility could use a fully closed loop. Cooling system that uses zero water for cooling, none. Not one million gallons a year, not ten million gallons a year, not a hundred million gallons a year. There's all new technology in the data center industry to help solve the issues that they've caused. All
these giant facilities that use millions of gallons, they were built years ago. That is not currently what we're talking about. My facility again would use less water than a typical coffee shop.
It's it's it's it's it's current technology folks. And our power is a direct utility contract with the local co op, so no resident rates would go up because of us. My company actually supports a moratorium on large data center facilities. We support the moratorium.
We're humbly asking the county to consider keeping a path open for small, low impact facilities like ours that carry none of those costs. Two ways that you all could do that. Option one, pass the moratorium with a carve out, allowing a data center facility only if it's under fifty megawatts. if it's within one thousand feet of a substation and uses less than one million gallons of water per year. Period. That's option one. Option two, pass the moratorium as written, but allow one pilot facility
like ours to truly be a partner with the county where the county can set all the limits of our water, of our power, of all our utilities. You get direct access to all of the inter information and you can be a you can be a beacon for Florida and tell all show all the other counties uh what responsible data centers can do. Again, that's three million dollars in tax revenue per year from our two hundred million dollar facility that is asking for nothing in return. We respectfully ask for no incentives, no subsidies, no special treatment.
Thank you. You cannot
Why does that matter?
You cannot do that.
Why does that matter? It's a two hundred dollar ph I believe a ton, Joe. Thank you.
Quiet, please. Is there any else?
Mr. Chairman is all that I have signed up for item P forty eight and we have no one um virtually for this item. Okay.
I
see some.
If you do, if you want to speak, please line up one behind each other.
So just state your name and address first and then you can proceed. Thank you.
My name is Gabrielle Clemens. I'm I live Palm uh [address removed]. Um I just I wanna say that I think a lot of people are talking about the impacts on like the environment and things, but I don't think enough people are talking about the community and how the community is impacted from this. people are losing their creativity and lo are losing their m their brain. I am probably the youngest person in here. I just finished my first year of college. I'm I'm
going into environmental science. I know the impact is grand and great on how people live and how the environment is affected from this, but it affects me. I'm gonna grow up here. I've grown up here. I've seen the rise in AI data centers, I've seen what it does, and it makes people lose their minds. I've had friends who don't even know what how to write an essay anymore because all they can do is ask a child. chat box and it's so it's making people dumber, it's making
people slower, and it's hurting it's hurting people and their creativity and how they can process things. I know that a lot of people use um AI for sources and stuff, which is not it's not a good source. It can barely get the right information for you. I I know a lot of the animals are also and I know people have already talked about this, but a lot of the animals are are very affected by this. I I'm mainly
focused on animals. I grew up around animals. I grew up on a little farm. Um and we need this water, we need this protection against the environment. I'm probably I'm probably gonna be here for another fifty years and I'm probably gonna be here along before a lot of the people in this room and It's me who has to take it's me and people like me and people my age group who are gonna have to live through this and live as it takes our water. Not within the next year,
not within the next five, but within the next decade and the next century. We're gonna have to live through this and live with the consequences of what would happen if we put this large data center and open this open opens Pandora's box of letting more data centers into Florida and into the United States, which is not okay. and it's gonna take up a bunch of I think we're we're shooting out a bunch of environmental or a bunch of data centers and we're not thinking about how that
this is gonna be so normalized and so we we don't even know the effects fully on the environment. Data centers haven't been around long enough for us to study and know the full effects of this on our environment. So I think we should do a little more research and I think we should wait maybe ten to fifteen years to see how much these affect our environment and affect our people. Thank you.
Thank you.
I can pull
the mic down. My name is uh Cody Chekle. I live on the Pasco side of Spring Hill. My address is [address removed]. Um I haven't heard anybody discussing what these data centers are actually being used for. And I have knowledge of that because I've worked as a data analyst in big tech for about 15 years now. I've worked with AI for longer than a lot of people have known what AI is. I've worked with big data on a global scale. I've
worked with metadata also on a global scale. I worked for one of the Largest data companies in the world here in Florida. The facility where they store all that data for people globally, many, many, many millions of people, is one one-hundredth the size of these data centers that we're seeing spring up. So these things aren't for Meta. They're not for your phone company. They're not like people don't know what they're for. They're for mass surveillance. Um they are for all those flock cameras
that are going up without our permission. They are for every text message we send, everything we do on social media. The government wants to store that and they need a lot. They need a lot. Uh to be able to do that. It takes a lot to store that data and then to use that data. And they're also being used to automate jobs and so eliminate jobs from us. People in my industry are being wiped out effectively by AI and H1B foreign workers every day on social media
and local forums. I'm seeing people in Pasco County and surrounding counties who can't find a job. They can't find a job because of foreign labor, probably um much of that illegal, and AI. This is something that Is Very disturbing and it's all it's all actually unconstitutional and illegal. Nobody's talking about that. Nobody's waking up to that and realizing that. I think eventually we're going to. Um AI is also a bubble that's going to pop. It's going to be like the dot-com bubble because it is not all
that people think it is. It is not as effective as people think it is. It's not accurate. Um and it's being it's being pushed right now at the federal level by foreign special interests. They want to store this data and then they want to use it to work against us. They're already using it to work against civilians on a military level in countries abroad. These are the things that we can expect to see come out of these data centers. We need to understand what they are they being used for? Nobody's asking those questions. You guys need to ask those questions. And it's
also being opined by many nationwide that their local officials got bribed to say yes to these data centers when the communities overwhelmingly said no. So um if that's the case, I think we can look forward to an investigation uh into corruption here. So thank you. Yeah.
Uh my name is Jose Freitas and I live on [address removed]. Good afternoon everyone. My name is Jose Freites. I'm a native of Pasco of Pasco County. I've been living here all 20 years of my life. And when I heard that there was a moratorium on AI data centers, well quite frankly, I was shocked, but not surprised. I grew up in Pasco County and I what I can tell you is As the time has gone by, over development has crept into our community. as it has across the state. My
mom and I would have a running joke that every new construction construction site is a new car wash. Near seventy percent of the time we're right. Now Pasco County is discussing about whether or not we need a data center here. The sheer thought of it alone is enraging.
AI is to many the jumpstart of the third industrial revolution. To others it means utter catastrophe. AI data centers take up large amounts of water in order to cool down its machinery, Think about the impact that it has on our nature's ecosystem. The plants and wildlife that thrive here will disappear. AI data centers have shown to shock and overwhelm electricity system. Electricity companies will get can turn around and take advantage of the situation and raise everyone's light bill. All because
we needed the AI data data center. Think about the impact that has on your constituents in a time where basic commodities are already at an all-time high, insurance, gas, groceries, We are in an affordability crisis and we're here sitting thinking and talking about whether or not we need a data center with zero safety nets. That's ridiculous. As a young person, as so many others have, I am often misrepresented when it comes to AI. Since this is a new useful technology, I should
be the most enthusiastic out of anyone here, but I am not. I am not the only one who feels the sentiment. Students both high school and college have seen a drop in cognitive retention in class. Think about that. With literacy rates already dropping prior to the AI problem, we are barely barreling towards the path of anti-intellectualism. I argue a society who cannot think for themselves is no society at all.
My name is Jose Alejandro Freitas. I'm twenty years old and I am running for state representative here in Pasco County. I think about the working class here. I devote my time to fighting for the people. County Commissioners, I ask, will you think about your constituents when it comes down tying to vote? Thank you.
Thank you.
That's why.
You may proceed. Thank you.
Hello, my name is Amanda Swanson. I
live
at [address removed]. Um thank you so much for taking the time today. Um I was uh very pleased to see the moratorium even be an option for us. Um, I genuinely feel by Vibes alone that you guys will possibly really put this moratorium into place, and I do fully appreciate why it would be for 12 months. I hope that in 12 months we'll be here again to set up another 12-month moratorium. Um there's only been one gentleman who came up here today that I disagreed with in any capacity. I'm sure you can figure out which one it was. Um
I everything I feel has been expressed today, except for one thing that seems very small. But it is uh I just wanted to put it on the public record. Um we are already seeing what happens in the short term around the data centers that already exist, but we certainly just cannot at this time know what this looks like five years from now. We're still learning about long COVID and potential uh ramifications from f you know fast vaccines. Like there are things that take years to unpack. Um There has already been some reports
in Texas, from farms in Texas around data centers that are already currently active, where their livestock have not provided a single live calf. They are having stillborn births across the board. Their cattle are procreating, they are miscarrying or giving birth to stillborn calves. Now, I know Pasco County is not a bastion for the dairy or beef market. However, data centers don't target cows. This have ramifications for other livestock and eggs, but it also has
ramifications for the farmer's wife and daughters. There is there are things that we simply cannot know right now, and if this level of contamination to our groundwater and our drinking sources and our air can potentially cause long term infertility, I think that is something that should be serious seriously looked at, and I find it very ironic that the party that is putting these data centers through across rural and suburban America is the same party that just spent five decades doing all of they all they can to overturn Roe v. Wade. Thank you for their time.
Oh yeah.
Mm.
There's only one reason data centers are eyeing our county. Is this name for the reason? Oh sorry, Don Henricks, uh [address removed]. There's only reason data centers are eyeing our county because they consider it an untapped resource. That's all they want is our resources. The only reason that we would have a data center here because there's absolutely zero benefits other than any financial gain for the county. And that's just basically saying we are willing to sell our resources for money. And uh th
that makes zero sense because in the long run, what needs to be considered is what is the long term. We get the money right now, you get a little bit of money every year, but what is the long term cost that that we're gonna be having to deal with? You don't even know. It's it it could be so astronomical that any reward that we get for money would not even pay off. So that that that seriously needs to be considered. I I agree with everything else I've already stated that at the last meeting about the environmental and all that, and uh people have already said that. I would w
wanna say one thing. If the people aren't considered, if the land isn't considered, if the nature isn't considered, the one thing that is going to be impacted is property values are going to plummet and here we are growing this county already and what about the potential growth that is going to be stunted when there's not enough resources for other new development homes or incoming things because there will be no water, there will be no resources For that, for growth. And one thing I would like to reply about Mr. Miltenberger, the
one thing he did not state was as he wanted to build his less than twenty megawatt data center, but he admitted at that meeting that he wanted to add on. He wanted to get in under the 20, but then he wanted to add on. And that is the problem with people like him is they want to come in and he stated, I would like to buy more land and add on more. So it doesn't end. And he never stated one thing. No water use. Well, where does all where where is all the the chemicals that he's using? Where are they going? He never mentioned that
either. So maybe he's not using water, but he's using something and it's got to go so. Somewhere. Thank you.
Hello, Commissioners. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to come up and talk. My name is Kelly Dotson. I'm a Hernando County resident and involved in Hernando County Data Center, no data centers. This data center violates the National Security Act of 2024, HR 2670, the The annual defense policy bill that authorizes funding levels and sets priorities for the U.S. Department of Defense, military personnel, weapons
programs, and national security initiatives. It restricts certain Chinese semiconductors, sourcing, and technology. It promotes secure U.S. and allied supply chains.
Component software and infrastructure. All data centers are made of these Chinese parts and infrastructure and are arrest in National Security of Florida. Just as May 8, 2026, Governor DeSantis signed HB 905, the Foreign Interference Restriction and Enforcement Act, strengthening Florida's protections against hostile foreign adverse adversaries seeking to infiltrate government critical infrastructure. Uh public in in institutions and states economy.
In twenty twenty three, Florida enacted S B two six four to prevent hostile foreign governments and entities affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party from purchasing foreign land or lands near military bases and critical infrastructure. Florida also restricted certain government contracts involving foreign countries of concern, blocked foreign controlled companies from accessing sensitive personal information, and banded uh TikTok and other
foreign controlled applications from state and devices and networks. Governor DeSantis also signed Executive Order 22-216. The order prohibits state and local governments from procuring or utilizing technology services that has been determined by DMS to pose a risk to safety and security of Florida due to the company's connections to or use by China, among other countries. Doing so, DeSantis said will help prevent exposure of government. But information and technology services
and systems and services in Florida to other state and non-state actors affiliated with China. DeSantis also proposed legislation action to prohibit government entities from contracting with companies owned and controlled by or d domiciled in China as if the contract would provide access to Floridian's personal information. They are banned. This data center will be surveillance centers collecting all of our data. So if the local government approves a data
center, is Pasco County in violation of the Governors Act? Thank you.
Hello, my name is James Cook. I don't have a prepared statement. I'm from the west side of the county. Um one thing I wanted to say is the gentleman who came by earlier and spoke about the cooling system within data centers. You didn't clarify what that system is because it doesn't exist, you know, there's no type of cooling system that exists at that scale. Just doesn't happen. With that, um also we've just heard from the last 25 people that we are all very much anti-data center. Everyone here is pretty much against it. I
think it's gonna be on all of you to vote going forward showing that. Um that's all I wanted to say. I hope you guys have a good day.
Again, I don't have a prepared statement. This is just Off the whim. Angela King, [address removed]. Um back about what he was saying. The gentleman that was here before talking about a closed loop system. He ran out of here like a scared puppy after he finished what he was saying. Because he didn't want any questions. My question is, he's got a closed loop system. That closed loose s loof system has to be cleaned out at some
point. It's got to have chemicals in it. It's got to be released someplace. There was nothing telling us what kind of chemicals that were used. where it was gonna go, how much it was gonna be, or how to even do that.
Who can answer those questions? That was just a quick point that I just wanted to make. because there was nothing said about how to do that closed loop system. He just said it and that was it and cut it off. I just wanted to make that point. Thank you.
I'm also unprepared. But uh I just want to say a couple of things. things. I just
need your
name and born about forty miles from you. Oh sorry. Eugene Alfano [address removed]. I live in Timber Oaks.
Thank you, thank you.
Okay. I was born less than forty miles from here. And starting in nineteen seventy, I worked for an architect.
And I don't know if you all are familiar with Lake Padet Estates. But we subdivided seven hundred and fourteen, I think the number was, lots off of forty one. Lake Padua States their second edition.
When we were doing that. We were designing homes and And
Many of the lots that were in that complex. had so much water on 'em. We had to make provisions for that. That being the case. That was nineteen seventy. And I Well we'll talk about that. Anyhow. My mm
My thought is that any of the people with the resources to develop this stuff They're not going to live in here. They're not going to live here with us. There'll be someplace else. Also, they had the resources. to insulate themselves from the problems that are gonna
uh culminate with the development of these projects.
Okay, I'm eighty one years old. I don't give a damn what you folks do, because it ain't gonna affect me. But if you're less than fifty years old, You better get concerned. I'm concerned with the science denying
I'll keep it clean. Folks who think that they're gonna leave it to chance, what's gonna happen with our environment? But I'm seriously doubtful that in fifteen or twenty years you're gonna be able to breathe here. And uh if the younger folks don't get their act together and get involved with our political system. And uh Do something.
We all won't be able to breathe in 20 years. I'm hoping to live that long. I got great grandmothers that lived More than that. But I don't really anticipate it now. So that's what I wanted to make. That's the point I wanted to make. Thank Thank you.
Thank you.
Hi, my name is Mendy Martin. Um I live at [address removed]. I didn't plan on speaking today, but You know, I think we can all agree these data centers are are more about data. They're also about surveillance of us. Um, I can't control what they're putting in our food. I can't control what they're spraying in our air, but we still can control our boat. And we're telling you how we feel about these data centers. And I want you to think about that. We can still control our vote. Thank you.
Okay. Does anyone else want to address the board?
Was there no one's online?
No one's online.
Okay, well close public comment. Uh back to the book board for any further comments or staff. I have a question for staff.
So Can you clarify the in the well, first point E w the lady who talked about electronic. How about now? Is it working now? Can you hear me now? All right. Thank you everybody for for coming today and to the Planning Commission. Uh E e waste. Will probably be or or
currently probably on the cusp of being um one of the largest uh solid waste challenges that our planet faces. And the e-waste challenges from electric car batteries to disposing of those to everything that's in our phones, devices, computers, will be a compounding challenge for years to come. And uh so I hear you on on e on e-waste and electronics waste.
Does the language um include all sizes, scope, and scope of these data centers like the gentleman that was here and the smaller ones and the medium and the large? Does it incorporate uh the moratorium incorporate language to halt? the data center of any of those sizes aside from what Planning Commission like what the school board has and and and those Type purposes.
Emmanuel Hill, Planet Development and Economic Growth. Uh Commissioner, my understanding of how this was drafted was that essentially the definition that the state has for a data center, which is all-encompassing, that definition has been baked into the language that's in the moratorium ordinance language. So as such, it would encompass everything except what we've clarified that are not applicable to the moratorium. So those would be Specifically Uh server rooms and computer rooms typically used to house IT and related network
equipment that are incidental to the primary use on site, so the school board item that you were just discussing. And then there is also language in here that after a determination of public necessity by the board, an existing development agreement may be amended or a new one adopted by the board to allow for the construction of a data center that is not a large load customer, providing that the agreement imposes specific conditions addressing, including but not limited to, all of the following: location, size, light, glare, height. Height, water use,
electrical power consumption, noise and compatibility. So if it doesn't fall into the category of the server rooms or the category of public necessity, the moratorium as currently drafted would prohibit that. Sounds a little loose.
Buy it, please. Mm-hmm.
I'm not sure. I'm not so sure for the twelve months that that's the that's catch all language. I need county attorney. Or a legal mind to weigh in or other board members. Thank you,
Chair. So you've advertised large-scale data centers and other large load customers within the unincorporated county as being affected by this moratorium, except for those exceptions that Amandela has given to you. So something that is does not meet the definition of a large scale data center. is smaller than that would not be covered by this moratorium.
Uh
hold on
for s hold on for a second. Quiet please. It says whereas, comma, data centers, comma, large scale data centers. That would mean any kind of data center.
And then it goes on to a large scale load user. Yes,
the defin the the definition is related to data centers, comma, large scale data centers. So whatever comes in under data centers would become as well as large large scale data centers and large load customers within the unincorporated area.
And so you can't Broaden it now. But that's that's what was advertised for this moratory.
Can I share the definition for data center per the state statute? Please. Please so it says here, a facility that primarily contains electronic equipment used to process, store and transmit digital information, which may be a freestanding structure. or a facility within a larger structure which uses environmental control equipment to maintain the proper conditions for the operation of electric electronic equipment.
Do we have to use the state's definition or can the county evolve the definition into Pasco County's definition. Of a data center.
If if you have a if you create a definition of data center that is different from the states, you can I mean if you can back it up, you can you can use that definition. Can you back
it
up?
I you haven't developed a definition yet, have you? Or as deaf. I mean,
Because we'd want to include micro, all of it.
But can I just add something? That is a very broad definition. It it includes literally everything. That's the reason why staff had to exempt computer closets because it's such a broad definition. It it includes It includes our IT department. It includes our IT department. It includes the computer it includes the computer room for this building. It it's that broad of a definition. That's why
they had to include an exemption for server rooms for buildings because it's that broad of a definition.
So for the sake of comfort That language is sufficient. On the record. As a catch-all.
I think it is a very broad definition, yeah. I think it includes every Mandel, do you want to read it again very slowly because it make a when I read it it was extremely broad to me.
Okay. So this is uh a facility that primarily contains electronic equipment. used to process, store, and transmit digital information which may be a free standing structure, or a facility within a larger structure which uses environmental control equipment to maintain the proper conditions for the operation of electronic equipment.
So that concludes everything that can be considered a data center. The micro, the Medium, but whatever.
And do you
agree with David that that's a That portion of the state definition is very broad.
So that It is A catch-all legal uh legal language.
It depends on yes, yes, you've you've advertised the world. Now it's what you actually apply it to in the adoption of the ordinance.
Are you saying we can change it a little bit?
Yes. I mean you can you can uh what I'm saying is it it you've got you've got langu you've got a proposed ordinance that's before you. If you
Believe it covers everything that you want it to cover. You adopt it as is. If you're con if you've got any concerns You still can Be more detailed about What is and what isn't.
So Chairman M so What are So if there was a hypothetical exception, somebody would come in. To try to propose such a project here. What hypothetical exception would Would that outfit? Potentially try to use.
I know you it's on the fly, but
Yeah, I have a question too.
If somebody came in and said, Well I have a project and it uh here's an exception to your language You know, they're you know they're trying to find a loophole, right? I'm trying to understand what the potential loopholes if if there are any with the legal minds in the room. Um
well I can tell you what was discussed at the Planning Commission. Um and it's really under one of the two exceptions that Amanda just read. And one of the arguments that was made was that somebody might try to argue that Under the incidental use exception, that somehow their their data center was You know, that it was a warehouse and that their data center was an incidental
use to a large warehouse. That that was the argument. So Planning Commission wanted staff to identify some cap on the megawatts even for an incidental use. Because they were worried that that might be subject to abuse, the incidental use exception.
Hopefully.
That was that was the argument that some of the Planning Commission members were making that that was potentially subject to abuse.
But the twelve months allows us to come up with
With rules and regulations and etcetera on how to prevent that from happening. That's
what we need
to do.
Incidents.
And that they're really a data center. Mr. Ingle can get up and and explain why he doesn't think that's a concern, just like he did to Planning Commission, but that that was one of the concerns that was raised by the Planning Commission.
Is he here?
She has questions about it. No, I I was gonna ask the same thing uh uh but you you brought it up about closing the loophole, but also the language. Like I was looking up other names for data centers. There's one, the cloud. They it could be called the cloud, it could be a data hub, it could be a co location facility. Like does like in that Just because it says data center, if it's called something else, I just want to make sure it's it's included. Like that they cannot get it through the county. There's no loopholes, there's no way to get it through.
If it meets the definition that you put in your ordinance, they can't get it through. No matter what the name is.
Like with that gentleman saying it, you know, it no water or something like that if he called it something else. I just want to make sure like something like that. couldn't slip through.
Well he proposed an exemption to your moratorium so that he could build it.
Mr. Starkey.
Um I have uh two questions and I guess this is gonna come up during your um year of research But the nuclear waste, you know, really got my attention. And so I want to make sure that we're looking at what that means. And I don't know if that that gentleman is here, if he has any or not. I don't know enough about these. I'm glad we're doing the moratorium. Um, but I did I I thought I heard that the Spiro's campus needed a data center. And
so um where are they in that process and Is it like an IT department versus a data center or what what's happening
with
SPIROS?
Well, David Engel, Planning, Development and Economic Growth, thank you for inviting me up to the podium. Um to answer your question, Commissioner, we do not have a specific proposal for SPROS to employ a data center. But we've had some general discussions over the last year or two years that at some point of time a small-scale data center would be necessary for the Spiro'c campus to support the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and patient treatment facilities
on that property. We have nothing specific, nothing proposed. And in fact, all the phasing of development in front of us now ha does not include a data center.
Okay, so we can get our rules in place and what we what we right.
That that's correct. Um we also crafted a statement of necessity. Let's say Spiros has uh uh a large uh international pharmaceutical concern and they want to come in and build a a massive facility or something that's pertinent to the Spiro's philosophy and project, then the board could consider that as part of an economic development apptinence to the, you know, that type of development. But other than that, um we don't allow data centers in this moratorium and we have a
complete blanket prohibition.
Okay, um and lastly I I I know that NACO that's our National Association of Counties that's our organization I'm on on the board of directors You know we've been talking about this. Uh I I remember at one of my last board of directors meetings, there was a gentleman From I think North Dakota that said they had a data center that was two miles long. Crazy. Um, and then you've got Loudoun County, Virginia that has 400 data centers. So I've been texting
here, but I don't have an answer yet, if they will be holding, and I I know there's other commissioners around the country that are asking this because a lot of communities are having these discount. Um, to have a a special session. for us on the data centers and we'll hear from commissioners who are living through it. So when I get that answer, I want to be sure we send staff and I would recommend you guys come up. J Jack and I will be there. Um it's in New Orleans. Um but if they're doing something on
data centers, I I want to be sure we get to go And pay attention to what's happening around the country so that we can learn from what's, you know, what others have been through.
And just to when you were talking uh the one uh woman said about the public health and the health impact, you know, assessment on these data centers, I think that's important too, because we did hear a lot of concerns about that across the board. Yeah, I've I have two pages of notes. Um so I just want to make sure that That you know we're on top of that piece as well.
So, Commissioner, I I've taken notes throughout the public statements and I've I've documented everything that's relevant and important for us to review. I can just tell you that it is a significant undertaking, and we are urban planners. We realize there's science, there's specialization that we have to consult with. And our intention is to hire an expert consultant to act as our advisor during the preparation of this data center. We don't have one in mind yet. We are um we've drafted
some scope and we are putting out our feelers to see who's out there, who has the expertise and the experience to backstop us technically.
Okay. I'd like to say Dave, um I I feel comfortable as far as the way the sentence goes with data centers then large scale, that is fully encompassing. We're also have the control if we chose to from off it if they came up to something that we could look at it, but meanwhile we've got everything blocked. So we're in control. That's correct,
sir.
Okay. So I feel good with that. Uh Commissioner Weightman, when you brought up as far as the the e-waste that we gotta have to deal with, I don't see that in the resolution. It should probably should be in like the next paragraph down. I think that should be added in there. And Commissioner Yeager, as you bring out as far as like health concerns for people, animals, et cetera. Well however you want to phrase that, I think that should be incorporated into this as you bring it back to us. Well
would that be in the ordinance or the more uh the moratorium ordinance or the final ordinance?
I I I to me it's we if we can add it. We could
bring it back at the second
reading and
the adoption.
Yes. That's great. It's a purpose of the I think the first and the other.
If I can before you go have this dialogue. So So if you stop future data centers from being built
There's no e-waste generated because they're not being constructed. If you're concerned about the e-waste in the eventuality that data centers are permitted sometime in the future, that would be a regulation under your land development code to to deal with that issue. But But this I this is gonna stop them from being constructed, so you wouldn't need to deal with that right now.
Okay. Yeah, and I and I noted the e-waste comment that Commissioner Weightman made in our uh you know all the issues that we're gonna look into. Thank you. Okay, and as
we adopt this, we're gonna be able to make this retroactive so it goes back to To the date of the hearing?
So there's a case in Florida, Smith versus the City of Clearwater, that says that
While a moratorium is only effective upon adoption The moratorium can be made effective retroactively to the first day it was noticed.
Well we should have done that on the billboards.
You weren't that was years ago. That isn't what they did.
So so we can work on the effective date before your second hearing if if that's the board's desire.
I would think the earliest date we can do would be the appropriate one. Yes.
Okay. Any further we
don't we don't vote on it we're
right yeah we're not gonna vote on this this will be heard at the next next county commission meeting at 130 thereafter so we'll be discussing again
the second hearing for adoption is to be held on july fourteenth twenty twenty six at one thirty as soon thereafter is saying may be heard in Dade City.
Okay.
But we did hear you and thank you for all coming.
Yeah, thank you all for your input and stay with us on it. We'll be going through the process. Thank you. Let's take a five minute break as the room closed up.
Mr. Chair, can I just ask one question? Um There is that exception. The um The public necessity exception and it has a list of factors that have to be addressed if we do that. Did you want us to add e-waste in that list? Yes.
Yes, thank you very much.
As far as to consideration added to the list.
Well, e waste, I would go to uh so that
that is a change to the actual ordinance.
Then health and safety, can you put that in there as well?
Well, cause it has a list of things that need to be addressed if we enter into such an agreement. Okay. That that's a change to this ordinance, not to the pure land development code. And so So if you want that to be addressed in that agreement, that's something that we'd have to address in this ordinance. I would put that in there in health and safety as well. So so if you want e-waste in there, we'd have to add that to this ordinance. Everybody agree? Health and safety and e-waste.
Well the stage is pretty broad. But um
Let's put it in there address it.
Safety.
Yes, okay. So the answer is yes, we should add that.
Yes. Yes, yes. I'm waiting for my question. You get three and a half out of four.
Well, it it already says in the best interest of public health safety and welfare in the warehouse clause, but I mean so you can
Yeah. Jeff, do you understand the list I'm talking about with the following says the exception. The list of things that need to be addressed in the agreement. Okay. And it says size, light, glare, height, water use, electrical power consumption, noise and compatibility.
So I would I think that e waste it would be appropriate to be in that list if that's something the board is concerned with.
Right, that's what I'm asking. Did you want that to be added? Because is that we need to change the ordinance to add that.
Do we have to vote on that or is that just ordinance?
We just we just gave
directions. We're just I just want to make sure staff has the direction to add that.