OCALA, FL (352Today.com) – During general public comments at the Aug. 4, 2026 Marion County Board of County Commissioners meeting, discussion shifted to the scheduled Sept. 1, 2026 workshop on data centers after resident Joel Hickman urged the board to postpone it until after newly elected commissioners take office in November.
“There is a growing concern among the community members and potential stakeholders regarding the timing and implications of this meeting, which would take place without the presence and input of newly elected officials, who will ultimately deal with these decisions long-term,” Hickman said.
“It is only reasonable that the newly elected officials who have been chosen to represent the voice of Marion County’s community have the opportunity to be involved in such pivotal discussions before any irreversible decisions are taken. Allowing the newly elected county commissioners to partake in this workshop will ensure that any plans for new data centers are both transparent and reflect the will of the people. It would also allow the new administration to align projects with the community’s priorities and address any concerns that the residents might have effectively. In doing so, we ensure a collaborative approach that respects the democratic process and reinforces public trust. Therefore, we request that the current Marion County Board of County Commissioners reschedule the workshop to a date after the new commissioners have assumed office,” he continued.
Hickman presented a petition with more than 5,100 signatures asking that the workshop be delayed so incoming officials could participate in decisions with long-term impacts on infrastructure, electricity, water use and community development.
Commissioners then engaged in extended back-and-forth on whether to hold the workshop as planned, postpone it or first impose a temporary moratorium on data-center approvals.
Commissioner Kathy Bryant of District 2 argued against rushing.
“I actually was going to bring up data centers in my commission comments again, and I was once again going to ask for that six-month moratorium before a workshop is held, based on several different things. Number one, technology is changing. Just last week, I read an article about, and I hope I’m going to say this right, because one of the issues that people have with data centers is the tremendous amount of water that they use for the cooling. So now they’re looking at a glycol, a glycol-based thermal fluid to do that. And I think these are still very, very new and unknown, especially here in Florida and in Marion County; we have no applications that are in. I don’t understand why we are rushing to have a workshop for something, quite frankly, and I will go to Mr. Hickman’s point. You and I aren’t even going to be here to vote on it,” Bryant said.
“I don’t think that we need to rush to set up any parameters. I think that whoever is going to fill these seats should have some input into it because they are going to be the ones that are going to have to live with whatever policy is set when an application comes forward. So, I mean, I don’t understand why we’re rushing to have a workshop to set parameters and policy for something that we don’t even have an application for at this time. So again, I’m going to ask for us to cancel that workshop and to put a six-month moratorium in place, give new commissioners a chance to get in here, get their feet wet, to understand the issue, and then have a workshop and let them deal with it,” she continued.
Commissioner Craig Curry of District 1, who chairs the Central Florida Regional Planning Council, supported some form of pause. Neighboring counties and utilities such as Duke Energy are still wrestling with the same questions, particularly the need for dedicated electrical capacity so data centers do not strain the public grid.
“I think we need to do some sort of moratorium. I don’t know if six months is the right number to give staff enough time to research this material and to give the marketplace enough time to land itself because it is really up in the air from every direction. I mean, we can have a workshop. We can sit there and fumble around trying to figure out the best course. But I don’t think there’s enough definitive information,” he continued.
Commissioner Matt McClain of District 3 noted the original intent of the September workshop had been precisely to discuss a possible moratorium and related policy options with legal guidance.
“Commissioners, I’m a little bit confused because I kind of maybe I assumed incorrectly. I kind of assumed that we were going to hold this workshop so that we could have this exact conversation that we’re having now, and I assumed that we were probably going to be doing a moratorium at that workshop of some kind for a certain period of time, but instead we’re having a conversation now,” McClain said.
McClain went on to say that simply declaring a pause without proper process could leave it vulnerable.
“I agree that we probably should have some sort of moratorium in place. But the purpose of the workshop was to make sure that we get together and talk about it and get some advice from legal counsel about how we can do a moratorium because we have to give staff some direction on what we need to go work on in order for the moratorium to hold, in order for it to legally hold. If we’re not careful and we just sit here and say a moratorium without anything else said, then it may not stand,” he continued.
County Attorney Matthew Minter confirmed a temporary moratorium is legally feasible for planning purposes but must follow the same path as other land-development regulations: Land Development Review Committee review followed by public hearings before the board. Courts have upheld periods of up to 18 months in similar cases, though Senate Bill 180 still complicates restrictive measures.
Outgoing Commission Chair Carl Zalak, III emphasized a two-pronged approach. According to Zalak, a moratorium alone is insufficient; the board still needs clear standards for special-use permits in case a legal challenge succeeds and an application arrives.
“If somebody won the legal challenge and came back, we have nothing to grade that special use permit on,” Zalak said.
Holding a workshop to develop those standards provides a backup even if a temporary ban is imposed.
On timing for the workshop, Commissioner Curry noted a personal conflict on September 1 and asked staff to propose alternative dates.
By the end of the exchange, commissioners appeared aligned on directing staff to begin the process for a 12-month moratorium on new data-center approvals. The September 1 workshop date will be revisited so all current members can attend, with the dual goals of studying evolving technology and establishing policy parameters.