York County Council approves nine month data center moratorium

York County Council gave final approval Monday night to a nine month moratorium on new data center development in the county’s unincorporated areas, voting 6-0 after about an hour of public comment at the York County Government Center on South Congress Street in York. Council member William “Bump” Roddey, who represents District 4, was not present.

The ordinance took effect immediately on adoption. It bars the county from accepting site plans or issuing special exceptions, conditional use permits or any other land use or development approval for new data centers while staff studies how the facilities affect water, power and neighboring property. Staff was directed to hold any pending data center applications in abeyance as of the effective date.

The practical effect for residents is a pause. Any new data center proposal outside the county’s municipalities is on hold into April 2027 unless council extends the moratorium, which the ordinance allows it to do by resolution.

What the moratorium covers

The ordinance relies on the definition of data center already in Chapter 155 of the York County code, a facility with one or more large scale computer systems used for data storage and processing for off site users, along with supporting equipment such as backup generators, cooling units and fire suppression systems. That definition also takes in cryptocurrency mining operations.

Developments that received civil site plan approval before the ordinance took effect are exempt, though the exemption is limited to the scope of what was already approved and those plans must stay in compliance with their existing conditions.

What the county studies next

During the pause, staff is directed to set a plan and timeline for examining noise, groundwater, utility rates, energy infrastructure, environmental factors such as waste heat, and the impact on adjacent and nearby properties. Staff was also told to recommend whether the county should bring in independent experts to help with those reviews, and to return to council with any zoning text amendments that come out of the work.

Council’s findings in the ordinance say the existing rules were not written with a use this intense in mind, and that a data center, if inadequately regulated, could fall heavily on critical energy and water resources, the environment, nearby property and other infrastructure.

Council first acted on the question in February, invoking the pending ordinance doctrine on Feb. 6, 2026, and concluded once that review was under way that broader study was needed before the code could be rewritten.

The moratorium runs nine months from adoption, putting its expiration in April 2027 unless council votes to extend it.