Defend Marion County from development of Mega-Data Centers

Our community has an opportunity to get ahead of large-scale data center development before proposals move forward. Hyperscale data centers can require enormous amounts of electricity and water, new substations and transmission lines, and other infrastructure. They can also bring noise, lighting, land-use changes, environmental impacts, and relatively few permanent jobs compared with the scale of the facilities. A moratorium in Marion County is especially urgent because Florida's 2026 legislation allows agencies to enter into nondisclosure agreements that can keep data center plans confidential for up to a year - giving companies the opportunity to develop proposals before the local community even knows about them.

We should not wait until a proposal is already underway to begin asking questions or establishing protections. We are asking our Marion County Commission to support a moratorium on new large-scale data center development while our community studies the potential impacts and establishes appropriate safeguards. A moratorium is not a permanent ban; it is a responsible pause that gives local government and residents time to understand the potential demands on our water, electricity, infrastructure, environment, and neighborhoods—and to establish clear rules before development moves faster than our ability to protect the community.

Send your letter today, don’t wait, as the Marion County Commission is having public workshop on September 21, 2026 to discuss the need for a moratorium. There is no time provided for public comment at this workshop.

Link to high level information: Data Centers Make Bad Neighbors:

PLEASE NOTE: All correspondence with public officials is public record.

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Please pass a moratorium on data center development in Marion County

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I am asking you to support a moratorium on new data centers in Marion County so that our community has time to understand their impacts and put protections in place. I believe we should slow down and make sure we have strong protective language to the land development codes before proposals move ahead of this. Data centers can use huge amounts of electricity and water, require new roads and power infrastructure, take up large areas of land, and create noise and other impacts for nearby residents. They also typically create relatively few permanent jobs after construction is finished. This is not a fringe concern. A University of North Florida poll found that 68% of likely Florida voters oppose building an AI data center in their local community, while only 28% support one. Floridians are already taking action: Pasco, Volusia, Lake, Escambia, Clay, Hernando, Santa Rosa, and Bay Counties have adopted or pursued moratoriums or restrictions on data centers. Cities including Lakeland, North Port, Edgewater, and Zephyrhills have also taken action. There are important questions we need to answer: - Electricity: Who will pay for the new power plants, transmission lines, and other infrastructure needed to serve data centers? - Water: How much water will they use, and what will that mean for Florida's limited water resources? - Noise: How will cooling equipment, generators, construction, and other operations affect nearby neighborhoods? - Environment: What will be the impact on land, wildlife, natural resources, and our quality of life? - Jobs and economy: How many permanent jobs and how much lasting economic benefit will the project actually provide? We have an opportunity to get ahead of data center development instead of reacting after a proposal is already underway. I respectfully ask you to pass a moratorium, listen to community voices, protect our local natural resources and economy, and establish clear rules before allowing new data centers to move forward. A moratorium is not a permanent ban. It is a responsible pause that gives us time to get the rules right. Thank you for listening and for protecting the interests of our community. Sincerely,

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