This week’s Zoning In highlights a clear escalation in both outcomes and tone. Projects in places like Monterey Park and Archbald didn’t just face opposition—they were stopped altogether, with one withdrawn after sustained pressure and another denied outright. At the same time, public meetings across the country—from California to North Carolina—are becoming increasingly contentious, with some devolving into chaotic or emotionally charged forums. Layer on top of that the continued rise in moratoriums, legal challenges, […]

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This week’s Zoning In underscores a clear trend: local pushback is intensifying. From packed town halls in West Virginia and Iowa to moratorium discussions in Maine and North Carolina, one thing is clear—early engagement and transparency are no longer optional; they’re becoming prerequisites for getting projects across the finish line. Plans for new data center in Athens raise concern in community Athens-Clarke County extended its data center moratorium as officials and residents grapple with unknowns […]

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This week’s Zoning In makes one thing clear: transparency is no longer a side issue in data center development — it is quickly becoming the issue. From Ohio lawmakers weighing an NDA ban after secret local talks, to Microsoft publicly abandoning NDAs, to residents in places like Columbus, Leavenworth County, and Charles County demanding basic information on power, water, noise, and tax impacts, the pattern is the same. When communities feel shut out or underinformed, […]

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This week’s Zoning In highlights how data center development is increasingly colliding with local politics and regulatory scrutiny. In California, the city of Monterey Park moved forward with a ballot measure to ban data centers citywide. In Utah, the Provo City Council denied a zoning change that would have allowed a new facility, while Michigan’s Gibraltar adopted a one-year moratorium to give officials time to establish development standards. Across several other communities—from Wisconsin to Pennsylvania—packed […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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