The data center zoning bill that came before the Baltimore County Council in the summer of 2024 wasn’t even supposed to be about data centers.

At the time, the county was in the middle of a two-year effort to purchase land of a former Middle River power plant and turn it into a public park. As part of the negotiations, Councilman David Marks proposed zoning changes that allowed the landowners to keep about 30 acres for a battery energy storage facility.

But Marks’ bill also lumped in zoning for data centers — massive facilities that store servers, drives and other IT infrastructure — which some considered desirable economic development drivers. Specifically, the measure opened the door to building them in lower-income and minority communities on the county’s east and west sides. It passed by a 6-1 vote.

In the 18 months since, the national conversation around data centers has shifted, and concerns over environmental and economic impacts have fueled grassroots blowback against them, including in Baltimore County.

Local lawmakers took notice. A new bill by Councilman Pat Young, who voted in favor of the 2024 legislation, marks a step by the council to rein in what it unleashed.

Young’s measure would place a moratorium on issuing permits for new data centers until 2027 and require the county to study the issue in the meantime. It was introduced last week and is set for discussion at Tuesday’s council meeting.

“We want to make sure people’s concerns have been heard,” said Young, a Catonsville Democrat, “and that we’re basing our decisions off of actual data, research and what’s been seen in other areas.”

Changing opinions

While Maryland isn’t known for data centers, it has nearly 40 of them, including two small-scale enterprise locations in Nottingham and Owings Mills, according to Data Center Map.

Data centers have been around since the 1950s, but the debate surrounding them is still new to many lawmakers. Some council members acknowledged that their support for Marks’ 2024 bill reflected their limited grasp of a quickly evolving and technically complex industry.

Councilman Julian Jones said his vote for the measure was influenced by the council’s long-standing tradition of deferring to their colleagues in local land-use and zoning matters.

“I try to be very knowledgeable about everything I do and every vote I take,” said Jones, a Democrat from Woodstock. “When things aren’t 100% in my district, we count on the councilman in that area to sort of lead the way.”

Council members said they’ve since had to pay closer attention, as data centers have rapidly expanded and drawn heavier scrutiny from Maryland lawmakers, advocacy groups and residents.

Last year was a flash point. The Maryland Office of People’s Counsel, the state’s ratepayer advocacy agency, warned last April that a data center boom, especially in neighboring Virginia, would drive up electricity demand and saddle Maryland utility customers with hundreds of billions in added costs.

Meanwhile, proposals to build sprawling data centers in Frederick and Prince George’s counties were met with fierce community backlash, spurring Prince George’s lawmakers to suspend permits for such facilities. State legislators approved a bill to study the impact of data centers, overriding a veto from Gov. Wes Moore, who has advocated for building more of them.

In December, the data center debate arrived in Young’s west-side district.

A lively community meeting at Woodlawn High School, organized by state legislators, shed light on a real estate developer’s intentions to replace a vacant Social Security building with a 42-acre, 150-megawatt data center and donate five acres to Baltimore Gas and Electric for a new substation.

No permits have been filed, and no operator has publicly backed the project. Still, about 100 residents, some wearing shirts that read “NO DATA CENTERS,” showed up in opposition. Many of them raised concerns that the project would consume too much water and energy, generate air and noise pollution, and overpromise on jobs and revenue.

Others at the meeting highlighted environmental justice and equity issues with the zoning bill, which permitted data centers only east of Pulaski Highway and south of Liberty Road — effectively placing such development in lower-income, minority and environmentally overburdened corners of the county.

“There was just not this real understanding of the problems and the concerns, and it’s sort of blown up on a number of different fronts,” state Del. Sheila Ruth, a Democrat who helped convene the community meeting, said in an interview.

What’s to come

Lawmakers said that what’s unfolded over the past year has prompted them to reexamine the county’s approach to data centers.

“Council members are often expected to be subject matter experts, and we’re not,” said Councilman Izzy Patoka, a Pikesville Democrat and the lone legislator to vote against the 2024 bill. “Many times, we have to go revisit legislation and modify it to make it right.”

Tuesday marks the first of two council work sessions on data centers.

Mirroring an approach from Prince George’s County and other jurisdictions, Young’s bill, co-sponsored by Marks and Patoka, would impose a moratorium on data center permits in Baltimore County until next January.

The measure also directs the county planning board to review the environmental impacts of data centers and to develop recommendations on regulations, zoning and permitting. A report is due to the council by Oct. 1.

The task of implementing the planning board’s recommendations would fall to a largely new council, as the legislative body is expanding from seven to nine seats later this year and facing significant turnover. Young, Jones and Patoka are giving up their seats to run for county executive.

“This is a conversation starter, not an ender,” Young said. “This isn’t about shutting down construction in perpetuity. It’s about being responsible.”

Five of the council’s seven members must vote yes for the bill to pass. Jones and Councilman Mike Ertel said they were open to supporting the proposal, while Councilmen Todd Crandell and Wade Kach did not respond to requests for comment.

A vote is expected Feb. 2.

Additional efforts to curb data centers in the county could follow Young’s bill. Marks, a Perry Hall Republican, said he plans to introduce legislation that would strike the reference to data centers from his 2024 measure, which he now says was unnecessary.

“We wanted that land preserved for open space,” Marks said. “No one was thinking about data centers.”