As we wrap up the year, we wish you a happy holiday season and a healthy, prosperous New Year. This abbreviated Holiday Edition of Zoning In includes year-end analysis from Adam Waitkunas on how data center community relations reached an inflection point in 2025—and what the industry must do differently in the year ahead. Data Center Community Engagement Comes of Age In 2025, community opposition to data center development crossed a critical threshold, evolving from […]

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Milldam’s Adam Waitkunas, a board member of the 7×24 Exchange Southern California Chapter, joined colleagues at last week’s 7×24 SoCal Holiday Party by the Marina in Huntington Beach, celebrating another successful year with the Southern California data center community. Looking ahead, the 7×24 SoCal Chapter is planning a strong slate of educational events in 2026, along with its popular annual charity golf tournament on March 30.

This week’s Zoning In highlights a surge in oversight efforts — from Michigan environmental groups filing a case against a 1.4-GW proposal to Georgia adopting statewide review rules and Prince George’s County unveiling one of the most aggressive regulatory frameworks to date. Meanwhile, pushback remains strong in places like Wisconsin, Kansas City, and Essex, where residents are raising concerns around water use, rising utility rates, diesel emissions, and transparency. We also tracked several major flashpoints, […]

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This week delivered one of the sharpest warnings yet that the U.S. data center surge is meeting organized, highly effective community resistance. From Virginia to Georgia, officials are tightening zoning regulations, demanding water and power disclosures, and pausing approvals as residents push back against diesel generators, rising utility costs, and closed-door negotiations. In a major shift, the Virginia Court of Appeals halted all construction on the PW Digital Gateway pending a citizen-led legal challenge. And […]

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