--- title: "Microsoft's Seven Buildings in Wisconsin, a 551-Acre Fight in Virginia, and a Proposed Ban in Florida: What Changed for Data Centers This Week" description: Local governments advanced data center developments and regulations across multiple states, with new builds, zoning changes, and bans shaping the landscape. image: https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/66525ec138843cc1ccb1c325/68c301ebaa36be33aa2af8f7_1a3f16114a452999cc4d7d6b36ae1602_Obedio%20march%20of%20progress.png --- [Skip to content](https://hs.getobedio.com/blog/seven-buildings-in-wisconsin-a-551-acre-fight-in-virginia-and-a-ban-in-florida-what-changed-for-data-centers-this-week#main-content) [![Obedio logo with black text and an orange graphic composed of four circles and a diagonal arrow pointing up and right.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/66525ec138843cc1ccb1c325/66529844eddaa630d6da1b42_obedio%20gold%20for%20white%20background.png)](https://getobedio.com) [Team](https://www.getobedio.com/team) [Pricing](https://www.getobedio.com/pricing) [Contact](https://www.getobedio.com/demo) [Blog](https://www.getobedio.com/blog) [Login](https://obed.io/v4/login) Data Center Local Municipalities Economic Development # Microsoft's Seven Buildings in Wisconsin, a 551-Acre Fight in Virginia, and a Proposed Ban in Florida: What Changed for Data Centers This Week ![Obedio research](https://7528315.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hub/7528315/hubfs/raw_assets/public/mV0_d-cms-elevate-theme_hubspot/elevate/images/avatar-placeholder.jpg?width=48&height=48&name=avatar-placeholder.jpg) Obedio research October 16, 2026 Here is what changed for data centers in the week of October 5 to 11, 2026. A Wisconsin village reviewed plans for seven new buildings. A Maryland county weighed three more on a campus it already approved. A Georgia city heard a plan for sixteen. On the rules side, a South Carolina county moved to lift its pause. A Florida county took up a ban to replace one. ## At a Glance - Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin: Microsoft’s plans for seven buildings and two substations, no special permit needed. - Frederick County, Maryland: about 559,000 more square feet at Quantum Frederick. - Chesterfield County, Virginia: a fight over 551.66 acres and the old rules. - Hampton, Georgia: a sixteen-building campus on 435 acres, and city staff say no. - Sumter County, South Carolina: new rules and a plan to end its pause. - Volusia County, Florida: a ban on large data centers had its first reading, with the second set for October 20. ## New Builds ### Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin: Microsoft’s seven-building campus on Durand Avenue The Village of Mount Pleasant Plan Commission had new plans for 12023 Durand Avenue on its October 14 agenda. The land survey filed with the plans is certified to Microsoft Corporation. Dewberry Engineers, Inc. filed the plans. It calls the site MKE Area 2. Durand Avenue, Braun Road and Hewitt Memorial Drive border it. The plans change a site plan the village had already approved. They show seven one-story data center buildings, named A through G. They also show a one-story office and storage building and two utility substations. A substation steps grid power down for use on site. Smaller parts include a guardhouse, a weather station and a fire pump house. The site also gets ten parking lots with 1,612 spaces. It adds storm ponds, sound walls, a security fence and a 10-foot path along Durand Avenue. The build will come in stages. Village staff say the traffic study assumes the north part goes first. Those buildings carry the labels MKE07 to MKE10. The south and west parts follow in five to ten years, with full build-out by 2041. The main entrance is a signal on Durand Avenue at International Drive. That corner gets a new through lane, a right-turn lane and a longer left-turn lane. Two gated driveways are for emergencies only. A We Energies utility easement and power line easements cross the site. Wetlands, a flood zone and a waterway sit in the southwest corner, and the plans keep buildings 300 feet back from the water. Staff also ran the numbers. They estimate the campus at $7,703,299 in taxable value per acre. Mount Pleasant uses a tax increment district here. That is a tax deal that holds back the new property tax a project creates and spends it on local costs. While that district is open, staff put the net revenue at $103,148,899. Over 40 years they estimate a gain of $5,578,384,028 after costs. Staff wrote that "all proposed principal uses are permitted by right" in this zone. By right means allowed with no special permit. So the commission checks layout, lighting and roads, not whether a data center belongs. Every drawing is stamped "Proprietary Confidential." Staff noted that plans filed for a public land use vote are usually public records under Wisconsin law. They recommended the applicant confirm in writing that the plans may be released, or provide redacted copies. The village wants detailed plans before it issues more building permits. ### Frederick County, Maryland: three more buildings at Quantum Frederick On October 14 the Frederick County Planning Commission had two data center site plans up for a decision. Both are on the Quantum Frederick campus near Adamstown. Bauxite II, on Lot 302, would add two buildings of 217,805 square feet each. The site is 180.22 acres, south and west of New Design Road and Manor Woods Road. Bauxite III, on Lot 102, would add one building of 123,446 square feet on a 79.52-acre site. That site is south and east of Ballenger Creek Pike and Manor Woods Road. Together they add about 559,000 square feet. Both sites are zoned General Industrial. Both also sit in the county's Critical Digital Infrastructure Overlay Zone. An overlay zone is a map layer on top of the base zoning. This one steers data centers to one area. Inside it, the open questions are about roads, water, buffers and power, not the use. Across the state line, Frederick County, Virginia voted on September 23 to take data centers out of every zoning district. Its minutes of that meeting, now public, show a 6 to 1 vote. More on that below. ### Chesterfield County, Virginia: TradePort 95 says the old rules still apply Chesterfield County rewrote its zoning code, and the new code took effect on January 1, 2026. Under it, a data center needs a special permit from the Board of Supervisors. That permit is not automatic. The board reviews each project and can say no. On December 3, 2025, the county's Director of Planning ruled that a large site in the Bermuda voting district now falls under that rule. The owners disagree. TradePort 95 Land, LLC, TradePort 95 East Land, LLC and Kyle Wells took their appeal to the county Board of Zoning Appeals on October 7. They say they hold "vested rights" to build data centers on the land no matter what the new code says. A vested right lets a project go ahead under the rules in place when it began. It covers 551.66 acres across four parcels at the northeast corner of Coach Road and Battery Brook Parkway. It is zoned Employment General and Warehouse and Distribution. The county plan marks it for industry. If the owners win, more than 550 acres could hold data centers with no special permit. If they lose, any project goes to a public hearing before the supervisors. ### Hampton, Georgia: sixteen buildings on 435 acres, and staff say no E-Data Company, LLC wants to build a large data center campus at 13550 Woolsey Road. It filed on behalf of the landowner, Calvin Center, Inc. The land is about 435 acres. It now sits in Clayton County, zoned for farming. The plan has two steps. First, the city would take the land in, bringing it inside Hampton's city limits. Second, it would be zoned for mixed use. The city record says the project includes "a large-scale Data Center Campus consisting of sixteen (16) data center buildings." The City Council had a public hearing on its October 13 agenda. City staff recommend against it. They want the land brought in as Residential Agricultural, a zone for homes and farms, not as mixed use. They also recommend denying the special permit for the data center. Staff cited heavy utility demand and asked for more traffic study. ### West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana: River Bend DC moves to a second phase The West Feliciana Parish Planning and Zoning Commission took up two requests from River Bend DC, LLC on October 5. The first asks to change the zoning near 11988 Louisiana Highway 10 West in St. Francisville. It would move the land from RA to M2, an industrial zone, for a "Data Center Campus." The Parish Council makes the final call. The second asks for site plan approval for "Data Center Halls Phase 2" at 2949 and 2965 Louisiana Highway 964 West. The record gives no size or power source. ### Pecos, Texas: talks on an incentive deal with Pecos Data Park On October 8 the Pecos City Council took up the Pecos Data Park project. Resolution 26-10-03R would let staff and lawyers draft a deal with Pecos Data Park, LLC. The deal falls under Chapter 380 of the Texas Local Government Code. That law lets a city give grants, loans or services to grow the local economy. The term sheet would come back to the Council later. ### Other projects in the record - **Stafford County, Virginia.** On October 7 the Board of Supervisors took up money from Stafford Technology, LC. It pays for the county's review of the Stafford Technology Campus data center plans. It also took up more time for pending zoning requests, including the Simms Farm Data Center. - **Jessup, Pennsylvania.** On October 13 the Borough Council had motions to hire help for the DBT Data Center permit hearings. Marshall Dennehey would be its lawyer. EmPower Analytics Group (Michael Cork) would do an environmental review at $275 an hour. ## Zoning Changes: Where Doors Opened ### Sumter County, South Carolina: rules first, then the pause ends The Sumter County Council had two data center items on its October 13 agenda. One was a public hearing and second vote on new data center rules. They change four parts of the county zoning code to set "comprehensive standards for the establishment of data centers." The other was a first vote on Ordinance 26-1056. It would end the county's pause on new data center permits. A pause is temporary. It stops new applications for a set time while staff write rules. The repeal sits on the same agenda as the rules, one step behind them. Neither ordinance is final yet, and the zones and distances in the new rules are not in the agenda. ### Indian Trail, North Carolina: industrial land only, with wide buffers The Indian Trail Town Council took up a data center section of its development code on October 13. Data centers would be allowed only in the light and heavy industrial districts. Each one would need a rezoning. Staff told the planning board that means community meetings, a board recommendation and a Council vote. The distances are spelled out. Buildings must sit 200 feet from the property line. They must be 1,000 feet from homes, day care centers, offices, recreation uses, religious buildings and schools. They must be 500 feet from any single-family district or farm. Every edge of the site needs a planted buffer. The buffer is 25 feet with a 9-foot wall, or 50 feet with no wall. Staff said the goal is to stop a data center from being filed as some other use. ### Pennsylvania and Texas: special permit routes On October 13 the Monroe County, Pennsylvania planners reviewed two township plans. Middle Smithfield Township would stop allowing data centers in its commercial districts. It would allow them only in its Industrial district, with a special permit. Paradise Township would allow them with a special permit in its B-2 business district. It would add rules on setbacks, buffers, water and power. Horsham Township, Pennsylvania and Benbrook, Texas also brought forward special permit routes. Coppell, Texas would drop "Technology Equipment Facility" from the uses allowed by right in its light industrial zone. Both data centers and cryptocurrency mining sites would then need a special permit. ## Zoning Changes: Where Doors Closed ### Volusia County, Florida: from a pause to a ban On October 6 the Volusia County Council had the first reading of Ordinance 2026-22 on its agenda. It is a "ban on large-scale data centers." The second reading is set for October 20. In August the county took up a temporary pause on large data centers, Ordinance 2026-16. Now it wants a permanent rule. A ban has no end date. ### Manatee County, Florida: a pause that also stops deals On October 8 the Manatee County Commission had Ordinance 26-42 up for adoption. It pauses filings for building permits, development orders, development agreements, special permits, rezonings and changes to the county plan. It covers data centers, large data centers "and other large load customers" outside the cities. That phrase reaches past data centers to any big power user. It covers development agreements and plan changes as well as permits. ### Perris, California: a citywide ban moves forward On October 13 the Perris City Council had the first reading of an ordinance to ban data centers citywide. It changes the city zoning code and six area plans, including the Perris Valley Commerce Center plan. City staff note that data centers are not listed as an allowed use in the code today. A second vote is needed to adopt it. ### Brownsville, Texas: a pause that reaches past the city line On October 7 the Brownsville City Commission had its final hearing on a 90-day pause. It also had a first reading of Ordinance 2026-1826. The pause covers what the city calls "High-Intensity Data Processing Facilities." It applies inside the city and in its extraterritorial jurisdiction. That is the belt of land just outside the city that Texas cities cannot zone. The city cites the Texas law that lets it pause new building there. ### Wellington, Florida: warehouses and data centers paused together On October 13 the Wellington Village Council had Resolution R2026-51 before it. It would pause new applications for "warehousing/data centers" for 180 days while the village writes rules. Many codes allow warehouses by right. Pausing both stops a project from being filed as a warehouse and turned into a data center later. ### Frederick County, Virginia: the removal is confirmed The Frederick County Board of Supervisors minutes of September 23 are now public. They confirm that the board removed data centers from every zoning district, 6 to 1. Supervisor Gary Oates, who voted no, said the way to control very large data centers is to limit building size and use design standards. The ordinance also says data centers "shall not be construed to be similar to any use listed" in the code. In plain terms, no one can argue that a data center is just another use already in the code. The board then voted 7 to 0 to protect two applications that were already filed. Under the amended resolution, those projects keep their place only if the board hears them on or before October 28, 2026. ### More pauses, bans and extensions - **New Jersey.** Estell Manor, Lawrence Township, Tinton Falls, New Hanover, Clinton and Hamburg all moved bans covering every zoning district. - **California.** Montebello and Fillmore moved citywide bans. Lake Elsinore extended its pause by 10 months and 15 days. Hawthorne took up the same step, which would run its pause to September 8, 2027. - **Florida.** Levy County adopted a one-year pause on October 6, by a 5 to 0 vote. One resident asked for two years. ## What Is Still Unsettled - Sumter County has not ended its pause. The repeal was on the agenda for first reading only, and both it and the new rules need more votes. - Volusia County's ban is not law yet. The second reading is set for October 20. - No minutes have been published to show how Hampton's Council voted on the sixteen-building campus. - The Chesterfield County appeals board has not published its ruling on TradePort 95. - No minutes yet show what Perris, Brownsville, Wellington or Hawthorne did, and each needs another step before its rules take effect. - No minutes have been published to show what Manatee County, Pecos or the Frederick County, Maryland Planning Commission did on their items. ## Share this post [mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fhs.getobedio.com%2Fblog%2Fseven-buildings-in-wisconsin-a-551-acre-fight-in-virginia-and-a-ban-in-florida-what-changed-for-data-centers-this-week](mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fhs.getobedio.com%2Fblog%2Fseven-buildings-in-wisconsin-a-551-acre-fight-in-virginia-and-a-ban-in-florida-what-changed-for-data-centers-this-week) ## Keep reading ### [Local Municipalities Home Rule Flock Arlington County, VA, Dayton and Mountain View Are Among 14 Large Local Governments Ending or Pausing Flock Cameras](https://hs.getobedio.com/blog/arlington-county-dayton-and-mountain-view-are-among-14-large-local-governments-ending-or-pausing-flock-cameras) ### [Data Center Local Municipalities Zoning Ordinance Chattahoochee Hills Voted to Take Data Centers Off Its List of Allowed Uses. 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