Southtowns Record

Minutes(July 15th Public Hearing Data Center)

Government
Town of Concord
Board
Town Board
Meeting
Jul 15, 2026
Kind
Minutes
Topics
Energy and data center siting, Moratoriums, Zoning and land use

Original document

Same meeting

Text · page 2 of 2

Page 84
July 15, 2026

variances, building permits, and other land use approvals relating to the construction,
establishment, expansion, enlargement, conversion, or operation of data centers within
the Town.

  For purposes of the proposed Local Law, a "Data Center" shall mean a building,
facility, or group of buildings and facilities used primarily for the housing, operation,
management, processing, storage, transmission, or distribution of digital data or
electronic information through computer servers, networking equipment, data storage
systems, cooling equipment, backup power systems, and related infrastructure, including
colocation facilities, cloud computing facilities, artificial intelligence computing
facilities, high-performance computing facilities, and similar commercial computing
operations.

  The purpose of the moratorium is to allow the Town Board sufficient time to
study the potential land use, zoning, environmental, infrastructure, public safety, utility
demand, noise, traffic, and community character impacts associated with data centers and
to determine whether amendments to the Town's Comprehensive Plan, Zoning Law, Site
Plan Review Law, and other applicable regulations are necessary to protect the health,
safety, and welfare of the residents of the Town.

  The proposed moratorium would remain in effect for a period of one year from its
effective date unless earlier modified, extended, or repealed by the Town Board.

  Supervisor Drozd asked if anyone attending the meeting wanted to address the
Board. Nicole Gangler of North St. asked the Board if there were any current plans for
building data centers in town-there are not. CEO Wiedemann stated that at this time
there are no applications, but our code book does not have any rules listed in regards to
data centers. This moratorium gives the Board time to decide how to handle these
requests. Ms. Gangler also asked if there would be a meeting held if someone did apply
for a permit for a data center after the moratorium-yes there would be a public hearing.
  Shannon Darr of East Concord asked if the Town has any partners in regards to
this matter, and Supervisor Drozd told her that there are no partners. Ms. Darr does not
think that data centers belong in our area.
  Supervisor Drozd informed the meeting attendees that the reason the Board holds
meetings at 8 am is because some of the Board members work full time jobs, and they all
have many other things going on, and sometimes it does not work with their schedules to
have meetings at night. Many of our neighborhood communities are also stating to hold
meetings earlier in the day.
  Caroline Francisco was born and raised in Springville bur currently lives in
Memphis, Tennessee. She came to this meeting in support of the moratorium. There are
multiple data centers in Memphis and they have made a horrible impact on the
community.
  Valerie Csehoski moved to the area last year, and she thanked the Board for
considering the moratorium.
  Sarah Rodrigues lives on Spaulding Rd. and she would like to commend the
Board for proposing this law. She would like to encourage the Board to take this matter
one step further and ban all data centers in the Town.
  Angela Steward from Mill St. has concerns about the effect on farm animals, and
would like to know if data centers would be responsible for clean up when they leave the
area and if the land would be usable after that. Supervisor Drozd said that those are
questions that no one has the answers to right now.
  Zachary Noble from Collins asked the Board if there has been any
correspondence from our Senator on this matter, and Supervisor Drozd has not seen
anything.

  The Public Hearing remained opened until 8:23 a.m. Motion by Council Member
Kassel, seconded by Council Member Krzemien, to close the Public Hearing. All voting
aye. Carried.

  _______________________________________________
  Laura Safford
  Town Clerk