Data centers already have no place in Lakeland codes, officials say

Lakeland officials learned there's already a prohibition against constructing data centers in the city, as residents rallied for approval of a year-long moratorium to act as insurance.

City commissioners had a public discussion on July 6 about a proposed yearlong moratorium on data centers and large-scale industrial developments that would have a peak electrical demand over 50 megawatts. Two public hearings will be held on July 20 and Aug. 3. The discussion on July 6 was supposed to be the first of the official public hearings, but an technical error in The Ledger's ad systems prevented the public notice from publishing seven days before the hearing, as required by state law.

"This moratorium in front of you is a 'belts and suspenders' approach," Palmer Davis said. "The city's Land Development Code and Comprehensive Plan do not currently allow data centers, they are not listed as a permitted use. Therefore, under our Land Development Code they are considered prohibited within the city."

Lakeland's proposed data center ban is redundant, according to the city attorney, but could still serve an important purpose.

Commissioner Chad McLeod asked how the moratorium providing a 12-month pause for city staff to review and study data centers would differ from Lakeland's already-stringent development review process.

"We don't have a definition of this use in the Land Development Code. It does give us time to figure out what exactly we are dealing with and talking about here, and understand the nuances of large-scale data centers," said Chuck Barmby, city's transportation and development review manager.

Brian Rewis, Lakeland's director of community and economic development, said city staff have been frustrated that the term data center is widely used, from a closet with a couple of servers in it up to a 4.4 million-square-foot site proposed in Fort Meade.

"If nothing else, through this process we can come to a simple, agreed-upon definition and framework for exactly what it is we are talking about but that also appropriately addresses the concerns we all have about our utility grid, water and natural resources."

Mayor Sara Roberts McCarley said "hyperscale" is not a legal term, more a common phrase adopted in the city and across the nation. There's no common definition.

"This is an extraordinarily complex and nuanced issue we are dealing with," she said.

What would be impacted by the moratorium?

Lakeland's proposed moratorium would halt development of any data centers, regardless of size, and any large-scale industrial development for a year.

"One of my concerns is the definition of a data center under state law covers a lot of things that would be routine for any business," Davis said.

The city has attempted to carve out an exemption for computer uses such as data storage, mainframes and server rooms that are ancillary to other business operations such as a security system or IT software, as opposed to running an AI data center as a primary use.

"I'm sure Publix [Supermarkets], for example, has mainframe rooms that serve their operations. That's not the intent of this ordinance to affect that," Davis said.

Existing data centers, such as Cologix in Lakeland, would not be allowed to intensify their use or expand their footprint.

The moratorium would cover all data centers, not just large-scale data centers. The state statutes define large-scale data centers as facilities having a monthly peak electrical load of at least 50 megawatts.

Lakeland Electric's current biggest industrial customer has a peak electrical demand of approximately 18 megawatts, Davis said.

"We don't have any large-load customers right now," he said.

The two known data centers within Lakeland are well below the 50 megawatt peak electrical demand being discussed. Cologix is less than 1% of that peak and uses about 21,000 gallons of water per month, Rewis said, "scantly higher than some single-family residences."

"In terms of demands for utility resources, they are not significant," Rewis said.

Residents' fears are strong despite details on Lakeland data center

Roughly 20 people shared their fears and concerns with Lakeland commissioners, asking officials to approve a moratorium and answer their questions.

Concerns about whether the municipal-owned utility, Lakeland Electric, could meet the power demands of a large AI data center and whether the costs of any necessary grid updates would fall on the developer or other ratepayers were asked over and over again.

"Who pays for the big upgrades at Lakeland Electric?" Sam Romain, Polk County's GOP chairman, asked. "How do they generate their own power? How does net metering work in that scenerio?"

Given the current water restrictions in Polk County because of drought, residents questioned whether a future data center was wise as it could prove to be a drain on an already stressed Upper Floridan Aquifer.

Sarah Calamunci, policy and advocacy manager for Florida Citizens Alliance, cast doubts as to whether Polk and Florida's environment is ideal for data centers given high humidity, the threat of hurricanes and high concentration of lightning strikes.

Mike Schmidt, an engineer and former Polk County planning commissioner, encouraged Lakeland officials to hire an independent consultant to review any proposals in the future. Schmidt said he could decline any such contract.

"It's incumbent on you as the commissioners to seek the truth, both sides of the story. Ask the hard questions," he said.

Several residents called for Lakeland commissioner to refuse to sign non-disclosure agreements with any potential data center developer and codify that no tax breaks would be given.

Ashton Sharrett said he's created a Charge.org petition calling for a moratorium on data centers across Polk County that had received more than 1,500 signatures as of July 6.

Lakeland resident Magdalene Dupree asked commissioners to make sure they address possible speculative construction of data centers, as many facilities rent out space to technology companies and small businesses.

"My ask is simple: Keep going, get this done, pass the moratorium. Take your time, write good rules. Protect the rate payers, protect the taxpayers, protect our water, protect our neighborhoods. Please ensure these AI companies play on Lakeland's rules or not at all," Romain said.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Data centers already have no place in Lakeland codes, officials say

Reporting by Sara-Megan Walsh, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger

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This story was originally published July 6, 2026 at 2:24 PM.