HARFORD COUNTY, Md. (WBFF) — Harford County officials are considering a data center ban, deciding to move forward with emergency legislation.
Previously, a data center moratorium was proposed, which would have paused new development while county officials could put regulations in place. However, they are now switching gears, especially since Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly has been outspoken about the issue, wanting to permanently prohibit data centers instead.
Cassilly said he felt stronger action was needed.
“We’ve done our homework, we looked at this very carefully, and we were just not able to both protect the citizens and accommodate these data centers,” Cassilly said.
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Cassilly cited many concerns, including energy consumption, the strain on infrastructure, environmental impacts, noise, water usage and other quality of life concerns.
Under the current law, data centers are not specifically permitted within the Harford County Zoning Code. The proposed data center ban would codify a permanent prohibition, so that they could not be approved administratively or through future interpretation of the zoning code.
“Right now, just from an energy standpoint, you cannot do data centers responsibly,” Cassilly said. “
You can’t do data centers responsibly in Maryland, and that’s our concern, is that we would be setting ourselves up for something that’s just not workable.”
Other residents in Harford County support the proposed ban.
“I love the idea of a ban. Let’s ban them in Harford County. I don’t think Harford County is the right place. I know we’re not going to be able to stop data centers altogether, but I think there are appropriate places,” Kate Perri, who lives on a historic property in Harford County, said.
Perri lives next to the Mountain Branch Golf Course, where a data center is being considered.
“I think one of my biggest concerns is that we’re jumping head first into this whole data center building, and I feel like companies are just pushing it so fast before we have all the facts, and I think that’s their plan,” she said.
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Online, the project is described as the Mountain Branch AI Energy Campus, “a locally owned AI campus designed from the ground up for Harford County — with the strictest environmental protections in Maryland and real, recorded community benefits.”
“This is a thoughtful, highly engineered, multi-billion dollar next generation infrastructure project, and one of the largest private investments in Maryland history,” Bill Vasilakopoulos, owner of Mountain Branch Golf Course, said.
Set strong local standards instead of a moratorium or a ban,” he added.
“They talk about all these good things, but the one thing that they never talk about is the impact that it will have on the community and the residents themselves, especially those that are within close proximity to the property,” Bryan Cornell, a landowner who lives on the other side of the golf course, said.
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