Massachusetts City Imposes One-Year Moratorium On Data Centers
Lowell city councilors voted Tuesday night to impose a one-year moratorium on new data center development or expansion.
The moratorium, which includes the possibility of an additional 180-day extension, builds on the council’s January decision to pause consideration of new data center development.
Lowell joins a growing group of municipalities pushing back on data centers. Elsewhere in Massachusetts, the town of Shutesbury will consider its own moratorium during an annual town meeting in May.
Moratoriums are more common in places where data centers have proliferated. In Ohio, for example, 18 municipalities have passed or are considering moratoriums, The Ohio Newsroom reported.
Such moratoriums can similarly last a year, like one that passed in Chatham County, North Carolina, last month. Others may be shorter but buy regulators time to consider more significant measures. The city council in Monterey Park, California, passed a 45-day ban on data center development last month, but with an eye toward crafting a permanent ban.
Lowell is home to a roughly 50-megawatt data center owned and operated by Boston-based Markley Group. While the moratorium freezes consideration of any future expansion, development work already underway at the site will be allowed to continue, according to the Boston Business Journal.
The company originally built out the data center in 2015 on the grounds of the former Prince Macaroni Manufacturing Co. site. At the time, Lowell had no zoning regulations specifically for data center projects. Markley also owns and operates a 930K SF telecommunications hub in Boston.
The Markley Group did not return a request for comment.
The moratorium will give city planners time to understand the potential impacts that the “construction, expansion, and operation of Data Centers will have on City infrastructure and, more generally, the overall quality of life for the residents of Lowell,” according to the ordinance text.
City officials will also use the time to review current zoning codes and regulations.
The Lowell City Council first backed a pause on data center development in January after Councilor Kim Scott raised concerns about a lack of clarity of what was permissible for the asset class within city limits. Scott also flagged that the city had little to no knowledge of how much power the Markley site draws from the local electrical grid, The Lowell Sun reported.
Scott told Bisnow that Lowell's current zoning was not written with data center development in mind, and this has created uncertainly for both developers and residents. She hopes the moratorium will give the city time to craft rules that better balance future development and quality of life in Lowell neighborhoods.
"Ultimately, establishing clear rules creates a more stable and predictable environment for long-term investment," Scott said via text message. "This isn't about being anti-business, it's about making sure Lowell has the right framework in place so development can occur responsibly."
