LAKELAND, Fla. — A proposed large-scale data center has sparked enough concern that Lakeland city leaders are now considering a temporary moratorium on similar projects.
“I am proud of our commission for deciding to look at a moratorium, but I would not say that it’s a huge success. It’s just the first step,” said Magdalene DuPree.
Watch report from Rebecca Petit
DuPree has been a vocal opponent of “Project Swan,” a proposed 600-thousand-square-foot data center near Old Tampa Highway and Wilkinson Road. She worries about the project's long-term effects on the community and whether residents would see enough benefits in return.
"What I'm most concerned about is they're going to extract a huge benefit from us if they do come. What are we getting back in the future?” said DuPree.
Her concerns mirror many raised by residents that Tampa Bay 28 has spoken with, including questions about water use, power demand and environmental impacts.
“You have the noise pollution, you have the light pollution, you have the energy. It's not going to do well here; not for the residents and not for any living thing in Lakeland,” said Kendall Donohue.
City commissioners are discussing a 12-month moratorium on new large-scale data centers. Leaders stress the proposed moratorium would not be a ban on data centers; instead, it would temporarily pause new applications while the city studies potential impacts and establishes rules.
Commissioners say they want a better understanding of what Lakeland's water, wastewater and electric systems can realistically support before approving projects of this scale.
“We don’t know if we have the capacity to say yes. We don’t know what our limitations and our constraints are on our grid. We can find that out. We can ask those question,” said commissioner Stephanie Madden.
For DuPree, the goal is to ensure residents have a voice in shaping those rules.
"I would put a size limit, definitely no hyper-scale facilities. I would also require them to contribute to a victim fund maybe for a period of 100 years just in case people have health issues,” said DuPree.
City leaders will draft an ordinance and hold public hearings as early as next month.
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