Cleveland City Council Set to Extend Data Center Moratorium to Early 2027

Cleveland will likely not be entertaining new data centers of any kind—at least in 2026.

Legistlation introduced at City Council on Monday evening would extend the current pause, which was originally set to expire October 20, until January 29, 2027.

Council’s Data Center Working Group, spearheaded by Ward 13 Councilman Brian Kazy, “worked diligently” to look into similar laws across the country to see how Cleveland should be legislating its own.

North Royalton, Kent and Grove City city councils have also passed similar bans. Grafton just agreed on a five-year pause on data centers to “protect its small-town identity.” Ohio has 125 moratoriums statewide as of September.

There’s “still more work that must be done to ensure that the adopted policies and regulations ,” the legislation passed on Monday read, “are suitable for the city.”

The AI boom in the past few years has fueled a frantic pace of infrastructure construction, a dash that has been met with pushback from California to New York.

Ohio has 80 data centers in operation, with 189 planned, according to Cleanview, a website that tracks data center growth across the country. Most of that growth is huddled around Columbus, with a handful planned around Canton, Youngstown and Kent.

A Joint Data Center Committee was created in the Ohio Statehouse this spring to figure out what the state’s policy on data center growth should look like. Committee findings will eventually shape a bill, H.B. 646, currently making its way through the House.

Kazy, who entertained hundreds of questions from Clevelanders during public comment, said the main takeaway he gleaned from three town halls is that residents want clear-eyed guidance and regulation, from zoning to power grid issues to water usage.

“I think there’s loose ends that we want to tie up,” he told Scene in a call. “And when we do this, we want to make sure it’s right. We don’t want to rush it.”

“In the meantime, the moratorium stays in place,” Kazy said.

The legislation introduced Monday will head to City Council’s Finance Committee next week, and head to full Council shortly after for passage, Kazy said. More legislation scrutinizing data center growth will be considered by the end of January.