The Okaloosa Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously Thursday afternoon to direct county staff to begin developing a regulatory framework for data centers, taking a proactive approach to an issue that has prompted moratoriums and outright bans in other communities across the country.
- The discussion, which Chairman Trey Goodwin placed on the agenda, centered not on whether to block data centers from Okaloosa County but on how to regulate them before a developer shows up with an application the county’s current rules aren’t equipped to handle.
“I’m sure we’re all aware several jurisdictions are taking different actions with regard to data centers. Some are putting a moratorium, some are putting in all-out bans,” Goodwin said. “What I wanted to do was give our board an opportunity to talk about this in a public forum and decide if we want to give some direction to staff about what we want to do.”
Goodwin said he wanted the board to consider data centers from the perspective of how they should be addressed in the county’s comprehensive plan, future land use map, land development code and building standards, rather than through a blanket moratorium.
“Part of the reason I wanted to have that as a discussion instead of just burying it as some sort of a moratorium or something in a consent agenda is that it may be something where we want to take a different perspective on this and look at it not from the concept of just an all-out ban, but a concept of recognition that these are probably a reality of the future,” Goodwin said.
A staff report prepared by Deputy County Administrator Jason Autrey noted that data centers are not specifically addressed in either the Okaloosa County Comprehensive Plan or its Land Development Code. If a data center application were received under the county’s current processes, the report said, it would be “extremely difficult, if not impossible” to determine which existing future land use map designations or zoning districts could accommodate such a use.
The report also cited Senate Bill 484, which passed during the 2026 Florida Legislative Session and effective July 1, that created a new Section 163.326 in the Florida Statutes. The law grants local governments the authority to address data center impacts through their comprehensive plans and land development regulations, including provisions related to infrastructure capacity, land use compatibility, environmental impacts and the efficient provision of public facilities and services.
- Areas the staff identified for regulation include future land use and zoning, water consumption, wastewater generation, noise, power consumption, lighting, thermal generation and mitigation, siting standards and buffers.
Goodwin referenced a Fox News article and read a quote from Rob Joyce, the Former Director of Cybersecurity at the National Security Agency, to frame the geopolitical stakes of the data center debate.
“They need Americans to argue for outcomes Beijing wants,” Goodwin quoted Joyce as saying. “And a free society that can’t build the power and govern the advanced technology is going to wind up renting it from the adversary, read the PRC, that doesn’t share its own values.”
Goodwin said the quote caught his attention but cautioned that it didn’t mean every concern about data centers should be dismissed.
“I don’t think it means that every concern we hear about data centers is wrong. I think there are real concerns about data centers,” Goodwin said.
He also warned that without clear regulations, the county could be left exposed when developers find gaps in the existing code.
- “They’ll find something that they say is close enough, then they’ll file an application under your current rules, and they’ll say your zoning, your future land use map and your zoning meet this. I filed an application that meets your standards. You have no choice but to grant it to me now, and if you don’t, I’m going to sue you,” Goodwin said.
Commissioner Drew Palmer said the rapidly changing nature of the data center and AI industry requires flexibility in whatever regulations the county puts in place.
“This industry is moving very fast. The AI data centers…the processing power that is required for so much that’s going on in the market today is changing every single day,” Palmer said. “I would want to make sure that whatever policies we put in place, it gives us broad discretion because it is going to be changing very quickly.”
Palmer pointed to onsite power generation, closed-loop water systems, sound shielding and light filtering as areas worth examining, but said he would not want the board to lock itself into rigid rules that can’t adapt.
“I think we have to take a thinking person’s approach to this and address it in that way,” Palmer said.
Commissioner Carolyn Ketchel, who seconded the motion, said she was glad the board was not having a “knee-jerk reaction” and said data centers could prove to be an economic opportunity for the county. She noted that power and water availability would be key factors in determining where they could be located.
Commissioner Paul Mixon, who made the motion directing staff to explore regulatory options, noted that much of the county-owned industrial land is at the Shoal River Industrial Park in his district. He said data centers have not been a fit there because the county’s priority is job creation.
- “In chatting, it’s not a fit for what we are. We’re looking at growing jobs there, not just building buildings,” Mixon said.
Mixon also reminded the board that the county has no regulatory authority over land that falls outside its land development code, even within county boundaries, a reference to the county’s large military installations.
Nathan Sparks of One Okaloosa EDC addressed the board at Ketchel’s invitation and said data centers present a tension between tax revenue and job creation. He noted the county has commitments to meet at the Shoal River Industrial Park tied to Triumph Gulf Coast incentives and Job Growth Grant Fund awards.
“One of perhaps several downsides to data centers as we know is that the job profile for a data center is not robust, at least at this point,” Sparks said. “There’s a considerable economic benefit in terms of tax revenue, and that’s something to be mindful of, certainly as we think about things like Amendment 3 and other things that could come to pass. But that being said, the job creation component is minimal at best.”
Sparks said moratoriums are “just a bad look” and that he believes every project should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Autrey told the board he would return within 60 days with what he described as a skeletal outline of the core issues, with the expectation that the plan would be refined through further feedback from the commission and the public.
- “I think the only way we will be successful is if we come back with some sort of outline, a skeleton, and then we build the meat on the bone after that,” Autrey said.
Goodwin also asked staff to explore two additional regulatory tools: conditional use provisions within the land development code and the possibility of franchising data centers in a model similar to the county’s waste hauling franchise.
“I don’t know if we can do that, don’t know if it’s legal, don’t know if anybody’s ever done it,” Goodwin said of the franchising concept. “But I feel like from what I’ve heard from the public there’s a lot of concern, and most of it comes down to the unknown.”
Goodwin added that he has not heard consistent calls from constituents for a moratorium, even as neighboring communities have moved in that direction.
The motion passed unanimously.
One Response
If there is a data center built anywhere near my home, my home goes up for sale. We are currently living part-time in Fredericksburg, Virginia. You do not want these data centers in Okaloosa County.