This week, the data center backlash picked up an unlikely amplifier: Comedian Charlie Berens, who is headlining a citizen-led town hall opposing a proposed facility in Beaver Dam, WI. It’s a signal that what were once niche zoning fights are spilling into the broader public conversation. Elsewhere, the pressure kept building — Birmingham imposed a pause on new applications, a major project collapsed in Apex, Missouri, residents protested a closed-door meeting, and lawmakers from Ohio […]
This week’s Zoning In underscores a credibility problem the industry can’t afford: when developers skip town halls (Denver) or table hearings at the last minute because filings aren’t ready (Pacific, MO; Upper Macungie, PA), the takeaway in the room isn’t “process”—it’s avoidance, and it hardens suspicion that projects are moving faster than the facts. Meanwhile, grassroots coalitions are rallying and litigating (Farmington; Columbia County), and local governments are moving quickly on moratoriums and tighter zoning. […]
Welcome to this week’s edition of Zoning In. The biggest signals this week came from San Marcos rejecting a $1.5B rezoning after a marathon public hearing, Illinois Gov. Pritzker proposing a two-year pause on new data center tax credits, and a broader tightening of the rules of engagement, from Washington’s push for stronger utility/ratepayer protections to Minnesota’s one-year ban and small towns like Columbiana, AL, codifying stricter zoning standards. At the same time, the process […]
This week’s Zoning In shows the data center debate moving decisively from city halls to statehouses. New York lawmakers introduced a three-year moratorium to study grid, ratepayer, and water impacts—while other states are floating similar “pause and prove it” approaches. Referendums (Janesville), lawsuits (Hobart), and even NDA backlash in Michigan signal that process and transparency are now just as combustible as power and water. At the local level, timelines and trust are everything. Fermi’s permitting […]
This week’s Zoning In shows the data center debate continuing to shift into a more overtly political phase. From Sand Springs to Monterey Park, communities are signaling that opposition is no longer just about individual projects. It’s about process, trust, and transparency, with residents increasingly willing to escalate fights beyond planning boards and into ballot measures, recalls, and sustained organizing. Across markets, three forces keep converging: local control, fiscal exposure, and infrastructure accountability. Cities are […]
This week’s Zoning In highlights a troubling pattern playing out across multiple markets: projects are making headlines long before they ever reach the community microphone. From Monterey Park and DeKalb County to Lowell Township, Spartanburg County, and Imperial County, residents are showing up angry—not because data centers exist, but because they’ve been reading about proposed projects in the press for months—sometimes more than a year—before a single town hall, briefing, or listening session ever occurred. […]
If anyone thought data center pushback might cool off in 2026, this week’s Zoning In points the other way: resistance is spreading, sharpening, and moving upstream into policy. Across the country, residents are packing hearings, organizing faster, and pressing officials to act earlier—while cities and counties respond with moratoria, zoning rewrites, stricter siting rules, and new requirements. Notably, private equity is now being pulled directly into the opposition narrative—including in a letter to the editor […]
Two weeks into the New Year, 2026 is already picking up exactly where 2025 left off—contentious, politicized, and increasingly unforgiving for data center development done on autopilot. This week’s Zoning In shows opposition accelerating across multiple fronts at once: environmental groups challenging utility planning at the state level, auditors undercutting economic impact claims, lawmakers floating moratoria, and local governments are hitting pause while they scramble to update zoning codes. What’s notable isn’t just the volume […]
This week’s Zoning In highlights data center opposition shifting decisively beyond local zoning battles and into state policy arenas. As projects stall amid growing community backlash, governors and lawmakers are stepping in to recalibrate the rules. In Florida, the Project Tango fight highlights an unusual alignment between environmental advocates and Gov. Ron DeSantis around strengthening local authority and tightening siting standards for AI data centers. In Arizona, Gov. Katie Hobbs’ call to sunset data center […]
Milldam’s Adam Waitkunas recently spoke with Bisnow as part of its annual outlook on the forces shaping data center development in 2026. The wide-ranging piece explores how artificial intelligence, power constraints, capital discipline, and politics are reshaping where and how data centers get built. In the article, Adam highlights a critical shift underway across the industry: community opposition to data centers is no longer an isolated, local entitlement risk. Instead, it is becoming more organized, […]
