Escambia Commissioners Stand Firm On Existing Data Center Ban, Take No Action On Moratorium

September 11, 2026

Thursday night, the Escambia County Commission took no action on setting public hearings in order to establish a data center moratorium, saying data centers are already absolutely banned in Escambia County.

“Your LDC (Land Development Code) currently does not allow them, and you have imposed an ordinance previously that indicates that they are not appropriate in Escambia County, and they are banned,” County Attorney Alison Rogers said. “You don’t need to do anything. You can take no action.”

“I can’t believe we keep revisiting this subject,” Commissioner Steve Stroberger said.

“It shouldn’t even be on the damn agenda,” Commissioner Lumon May interjected, later adding, “It is dead. It is dead. We can’t do it. It’s banned in Escambia County…It’s banned, it’s dead, it’s not allowed.”

“My position is very clear,” May continued. “It was banned yesterday, banned today, banned tomorrow as far as I am concerned.”

“Just to be clear, none of us want data centers,” Stroberger said.

In August, the commission approved an ordinance banning large-scale data centers in the unincorporated areas of Escambia County outside the City of Pensacola and the Town of Century.

The actions came on the heels of a resolution approved in late July that officially memorialized the county’s position that data center facilities are not permitted under the County’s Land Development Code and are not an appropriate form of development within the unincorporated area of Escambia County.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under TOP STORIES