Martin County Advances Temporary Moratorium on Large Data Centers

West Palm Beach Fort Pierce, FL, October 15, 2026 —

Martin County commissioners are moving forward with a temporary moratorium on new large-scale data centers in unincorporated areas of the county. The measure is awaiting final approval on October 27.

Under the proposed definition, a large-scale data center is a facility with an electrical demand of 50 megawatts or more. The moratorium aims to pause new applications for these facilities for up to one year, giving county staff time to research the issue and develop regulations suited to their scale.

The stated reason for the pause is that existing county codes are insufficient for the scale of the proposed facilities. The measure is temporary and focused on creating time for regulatory work; the summary does not specify what new rules staff may recommend or whether commissioners have identified particular standards for consideration.

The moratorium would cover unincorporated areas of Martin County. The summary does not say whether incorporated municipalities would be affected, and it provides no details about applications already submitted, any exemptions, or the specific process for developing the regulations.

Final approval is pending on October 27, but the year for that date was not provided. The summary also does not identify a particular data center proposal, provide a count of applications or planned facilities, or state what action commissioners might take after the temporary pause ends.

Story summarized from the original created by Justin Breckenridge on www.wqcs.org, see more information here.

Media gallery