Last week, Nottingham residents came out to a planning board meeting in droves to speak out against data centers. Originally on the meeting agenda was an initial review of a proposal to build a data center off Route 4, put forth by local entrepreneur Tom Moulton.
But Moulton withdrew his application just hours before the meeting, citing the public backlash.
But even with no specific plan on the horizon, concerned community members still packed the elementary school gym, telling the board they did not want any data center, the one proposed or a future one, to be built in their backyard.
The planning board is acting on residents' concerns.
On Wednesday, the planning board held a special meeting, where board chair Drew Stevens announced the next steps.
“I have drafted a temporary moratorium document to disallow data centers for a 12 month period,” he told attendees.
The temporary moratorium, he said, would help give the planning board time to begin the longer process of changing zoning laws to prohibit data centers.
“We know just how much everybody wanted action on this,” Stevens said at the special meeting. “And it's difficult because we're an all-volunteer board doing this because we love the town, but in a case like this we need to move quickly to protect the town because we all live here and we all don't want it to get ruined.”
What happens next in Nottingham?
There are a few steps between writing a temporary moratorium, and putting it into place.
The draft moratorium is now under legal review by the town counsel. After that, the planning board will vote on that version. Then, they will hold a public hearing.
Next, the select board members will vote on whether to hold a special town meeting on the issue, where voters would directly decide whether to enact the ban or not.
What about a more permanent zoning solution?
The planning board also voted to create a subcommittee focused specifically on zoning ordinances and performance standards relevant to data centers.
“This committee would work probably through the summer until we get to zoning season towards the end of the year, and then come to the board with recommended zoning,” Stevens said.
Stevens said the town would vote on those recommendations in the spring, during its annual town meeting.
The subcommittee’s first meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 17 at 7 p.m., though that is subject to change.
What are the concerns raised by residents over data centers?
Residents have raised a myriad of concerns over data centers, ranging from environmental to economic issues.
At the meeting Wednesday, they brought up issues like potential threats to water quality, skyrocketing energy costs, increased strain on emergency services, hits to property values and noise and light pollution.
Research has found these centers place significant strain on the communities they are built in.
“67% of data centers are now targeting rural communities,” said Kristen Lamb during the meeting’s public comment section, citing data from the Pew Research Center.
What does the state stand on data centers?
Currently, New Hampshire has 10 small-scale data centers, which is the third fewest in the country, according to Data Center Map. None of these are so-called “hyperscalers,” which measure 30,000 square feet or more and are the facilities preferred for bolstering artificial intelligence operations.
Towns around the state are on their own figuring out how to regulate these centers — for now.
In the State House, a Democratic-led effort to regulate data center construction at the state level failed, after Republicans amended the proposal to restrict oversight by local municipalities instead.
“Municipalities are left with whatever they have in place right now, today,” Sen. Debra Altschiller told NHPR earlier this week. “And it's not a whole lot.”
Other states, like New York, are making an effort to restrict building the centers.
Elsewhere in the state, Canterbury voted during its town meeting in March to change its zoning ordinances to ban data centers.
