- May 7, 2026
A bill dictating that local governments should maintain the authority to regulate planning and zoning laws for large-scale data centers reached the desk of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday, May 6.
If signed into law, Senate Bill 484 would specify that local governments have the responsibility over comprehensive planning and land development regulations for data centers, which are increasing in demand across the U.S. due to the use of artificial intelligence. The bill would also prohibit a water management district or the state's Department of Environmental Protection from issuing a permit if it goes against local zoning regulations.
Hoping to avoid another fuel farm debacle, Ormond Beach city officials are looking to stay proactive — and consider a ban.
"These data centers are trending everywhere," Deputy Mayor Lori Tolland said at their meeting on Tuesday, May 5. "There's a lot of discussion. There is a lot of research on it right now, and what I've done in my limited research is they're not really appropriate for Ormond Beach, given our aquifer — or much of Florida, due to our geographics and the water supply."
Tolland said she recognized data centers are useful, just maybe not for Ormond Beach.
"Just like the fuel terminal, they are useful, but just not here," she said.
Tolland's remarks came at the end of the City Commission meeting. During public comment, Dream Green Volusia founder Suzanne Scheiber brought the topic of data centers and SB 484 forward, saying that data centers are currently in the planning stages in the state.
According to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, a medium-sized data center can consume 110 million gallons of water per year, about the same as 1,000 households. Larger data centers' water use can rise to up to 5 million gallons per day, about the same as a town with a population of 10,000-50,000 people.
"Data centers truly are resource-ravenous projects," Scheiber said. "We should be pursuing water conservation, not water depletion. We can address this now because we do understand the high stakes. Progress should never threaten our way of life."
Commissioners Travis Sargent and Kristin Deaton agreed with Tolland; the discussion should take place. Tolland asked staff to conduct research on data centers and bring back information on what steps the city can take to regulate them.
However, while SB 484 aims to give local governments control of data centers, there is an executive order from President Donald Trump from last year about accelerating federal permitting of data center infrastructure. The executive order revolves around using federally owned land and resources for the development of data centers.
Sargent said the city should look at the president's executive order as well as the impact of Senate Bill 180; this legislation prohibits local governments from enacting more restrictive zoning laws on development through 2027.
"I think it's a lot of work on staff with between the executive order, the state level and then SB 180, but I'm all for doing it," Sargent said.
