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WARREN -- City Council on Wednesday unanimously tabled legislation introduced by Councilwoman Helen Rucker, D-at Large, that would have permanently banned new data centers within city limits.
The measure would prohibit the granting or issuing of any new permits for data centers inside Warren's corporate boundaries. Council members voted to table it Wednesday after discussions in caucus ahead of the regular meeting to have meetings during the August break before reconvening when council is back in session.
"It's important to me that we know more about data centers. … The person that we're asking to come in will be someone who is sort of neutral, who's not trying to sell us a data center, but who would just come in to educate us about the different types, locations that they could go, and water or whatever assets they would need," Rucker said.
She added that the council planned to form an ad hoc committee after the meeting to develop guidelines and protections for the city in case any proposals emerge.
Mayor Doug Franklin welcomed the pause.
"Since the issue of data centers first became a center of public controversy, there's a lot of things that have changed about data centers that I think this legislation warrants a discussion on what the broad range of options are," Franklin said, including smaller-scale projects that could support jobs and construction. "I'm thankful that city council at least paused the legislation so that we can have these discussions."
Franklin may have speakers lined up for an upcoming meeting, and he said that Warren lacks the available land for large "mega" data centers.
Franklin and Rucker said that no companies have formally approached the city about a data center in the city.