VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Virginia Beach city council voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve a year-long pause on new data center applications, a topic that has been highly contentious for the city.
City council voted 10-0 in favor of pausing new data center applications for at least the next year, or until an ordinance regulating data centers is put in place.
Data centers have been a hot topic in Virginia Beach throughout the summer, with city leaders considering potential regulations related to their development.
Mayor Bobby Dyer said the city is taking a strong stance on the issue.
"We're not only saying no to data centers, we're saying hell no to data centers," Dyer said back on June 2.
City council expressed their desire to ban large-scale data centers, without industry standards, finding the correct threshold of what would be permitted vs. banned is a challenge.
City staff told the Planning Commission on Aug. 12 that there are not yet established best practices for data centers, including definitions, setbacks or noise thresholds. Staff said the city can look to other localities with data centers as it develops its own regulations.
Because developing those regulations will take time, some Planning Commission members said they support a temporary pause on new data center development.
"I would certainly support recommending to council a moratorium on the current loophole that allows by-right development of these facilities on industrial parcels until such time as we are able to put in a new regulatory scheme," Planning Commission member Walter Camp previously said.
Click here to see how we use AI at WTKR News 3.
