- October 5, 2026
New policies are in the works in the City of Ormond Beach to prohibit data centers.
The Planning Board reviewed proposed comprehensive plan amendments for the regulation of data centers at its meeting on Thursday, Sept. 10. The discussion was held as a result of the Ormond Beach City Commission seeking a ban on all data centers and enacting an 18-month moratorium.
The board voted 6-1 to approve city staff's proposed amendments, which include future land use policies and definitions. However, one policy concerning utilities caused concern on the board: capping the amount of water an industrial facility — that is not a data center — at 40,000 gallons per day for industrial land outside of the city limits.
"After 10 years of doing this, I know property owners try to figure out ways of doing all kinds of things that we don't want them to do," Board member Angie Shull said. "They always come before us. That's what we do up here, so I'm trying to think in advance — years and years in advance — and put something in here that's going to help do restrictions because developers tend to push the limit, and these developers and these projects will do the same thing."
Worried about data center developers subdividing acreage to construct more buildings, the board directed staff to take the top 10 highest industrial users in the city and come up with an average for the number of gallons of water used per day. Anything above that average would then be considered an extraordinary use.
Dream Green Volusia founder Suzanne Scheiber commended the Planning Board on their discussion.
"You're in uncharted waters — that's the best way to say it," Scheiber said. "Somebody has to start to set a standard somewhere. I think you just did that."
The 40,000-gallon-per-day limit is lower than what was initially presented to the City Commission. City staff had proposed a 50,000-gallon limit, but officials were uncomfortable with the figure, said Planning Director Steven Spraker.
"The highest uses that we have today are 40,000," he said. "So I think anything over that would be an extraordinary impact."
According to city staff, the property with the highest water use in Ormond Beach is the Extended Day hotel at 1608 N. U.S. 1, which averages 39,800 gallons per day. Edgewell Personal Care, a manufacturing company, has the second highest use, at 39,067 gallons per day.
However, Spraker explained that the water limit would only impact industrial land outside of the city. It wouldn't apply within the city limits because the city doesn't allow data centers to be constructed.
There is only one unincorporated area near the city limits where data centers could go: the county has five properties north of Hull Road currently zoned Heavy Industrial I-2.
Volusia County is currently pursuing a ban on large-scale data centers — ones with an anticipated monthly peak electrical load of 50 megawatts or more, which can anywhere from 300,000 to 5 million gallons of water per day.
Board member Troy Railsback voted no on the proposed amendments, due to the lowered utility cap. He supported setting a threshold that he felt the city could defend in case of a challenge.
"I don't want to serve the best interests of getting this passed," heh said. "I want to have a responsible policy that's out there and a rational nexus as to why."
Board members also discussed identifying additional water restrictions based on acreage or building size, but Spraker said this could pose challenges as the city doesn't control the land use or zoning in unincorporated areas.
The amendments are scheduled to be reviewed by the City Commission for approval on first reading on Oct. 20.
