PRINCE FREDERICK — Calvert County is one step closer to closing the door on data centers for good.
The Calvert County Planning Commission voted Oct. 21 to send Text Amendment 26-31 to a public hearing. The proposal rewrites the county zoning ordinance so a data center is not allowed in any zoning district, including the two industrial zones where the use is now permitted.
If adopted, the change would turn a temporary pause into a permanent prohibition. The county has been under a six-month moratorium on new data center applications since commissioners approved it unanimously on Aug. 18, after Amazon dropped plans for three data centers near the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby, FOX 5 reported at the time.
What the amendment does
Deputy Director of Zoning Rachel O’Shea told the commission that the Board of County Commissioners directed staff at its Sept. 22 meeting to prepare an amendment that would prohibit data centers in the county.
The draft keeps “data center” as a defined term in the zoning ordinance and keeps it in the use tables. But it removes the use from the I-1 and I-2 industrial districts, the only places it is now allowed, and adds a sentence to the definition stating that the use is not permitted in any zoning district in the county.
Keeping the definition on the books matters. A clear definition tells property owners and the zoning office exactly what is banned, which has been a sticking point elsewhere in Southern Maryland. Charles County officials said earlier this month that they wanted the term defined before any ban moves forward.
Commission members made no changes to the text. The session was a work session, and county attorney John Mattingly told members a vote was not strictly required, but staff wanted direction. The commission voted by voice, with no one opposed, to send the amendment to a public hearing.
The rules-based route is on hold
A commission member asked what happened to Text Amendment 26-23, the county’s earlier attempt to allow data centers under a set of restrictions and conditions that staff worked through earlier this year.
Planning and Zoning Director Jason Brinkley said the commissioners did not direct staff to move forward with it at this time. He said that could change in the future, but the current direction is the outright prohibition.
That shift reflects how quickly the issue has moved in Calvert. Earlier this year, staff was drafting rules for how a data center could operate. Since then, Amazon has withdrawn, residents have mounted a petition drive and the commissioners have imposed a moratorium. The board is now pursuing a ban.
The stakes were large on both sides. At the August hearing, Commissioner Earl Hance pointed to the project’s reported $22 billion price tag and an estimated $400 million a year in county revenue, according to the station’s account. Organizer Melissa Emmal said residents had collected more than 10,000 signatures against data center development, and many speakers asked for a two-year moratorium instead of six months.
The industrial land near the plant
The data center ban was not the only Calvert Cliffs-related item on the commission’s agenda. Minutes earlier, the commission voted to start a 60-day state-required review of a comprehensive plan amendment that would return 1,352 acres of I-2 industrial land in Lusby to their former zoning designations.
Principal Long Range Planner Tay Harris said 726 of those acres sit next to Calvert Cliffs. The other 626 acres are around the Appeal convenience center and landfill and the Solomons wastewater treatment plant. Commissioners directed that rezoning on Sept. 22, the same day they asked for the data center ban.
Together, the two measures would remove both the zoning that allows the heaviest industrial uses near the plant and the use itself.
The nuclear plant remains at the center of the debate. Earlier this week, the Chronicle reported that county leaders said Calvert was not consulted on a Constellation-Amazon power deal involving Calvert Cliffs.
How the neighbors compare
Calvert’s move puts it at the firm end of a regional spectrum. In St. Mary’s County, commissioners said this month that data centers are “not coming” under their new comprehensive plan. In Charles County, Commissioner Stewart raised concerns about a possible St. Charles loophole for data centers.
Data centers have also become a statewide campaign issue, with the two candidates for governor clashing over them in their debate.
No hearing dates were set at the Oct. 21 meeting. The amendment goes next to a Planning Commission public hearing, then to a separate public hearing before the Board of County Commissioners, which has the final vote. Residents will be able to comment at both. The six-month moratorium approved in August remains in place while the process moves forward.
