Cortlandville is weighing a one-year ban on new data center development, a proposal designed to buy town officials time to study what the facilities could mean for the community before any are built. The Cortlandville Planning Board took up the idea Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. at the Raymond G. Thorpe Municipal Building, where members were set to discuss the proposed moratorium and eventually pass along a recommendation to the Cortlandville Town Board.
The pause itself wouldn't settle anything permanently — it's meant to give the town breathing room. According to 607 News Now, the proposed moratorium would give Cortlandville more time to study potential impacts before deciding how, or whether, to allow data centers within town limits. The Planning Board's role Tuesday was to work through the proposal and forward its recommendation to the Town Board, which would ultimately decide the moratorium's fate.
Neighboring Towns Have Already Picked Sides
Cortlandville isn't moving in isolation. Just to the east, the Town of Dryden permanently banned the development of data centers and cryptocurrency facilities in February, following through on a zoning update that passed by unanimous vote on Feb. 19, according to the same 607 News Now report. The Ithaca Voice reported that Dryden's updated code specifically defines data centers and cryptocurrency mines and excludes both from the town's list of allowable uses — officials there believe Dryden was the first town in New York state to ban the facilities outright, as outlined by the Ithaca Voice.
Dryden didn't arrive at a permanent ban overnight. The town first adopted an 18-month moratorium on data center and cryptocurrency mine development back in July 2024, using that window to study the issue before tightening its code for good, per the Ithaca Voice's reporting. Town officials there pointed to concerns echoed nationally — energy consumption, water usage and noise pollution — as reasons for the crackdown.
Caroline, another nearby town, took a less permanent route. In June, the town approved an 18-month ban on data centers and commercial cryptocurrency mining operations, according to 607 News Now's reporting, giving it time to weigh the same kinds of concerns without closing the door entirely.
A Statewide and National Pattern
The debate playing out in Cortlandville mirrors fights unfolding across New York and well beyond it. In Massena, a proposed moratorium was pitched as a way to give town officials time to study noise pollution, water usage, heat output and other potential impacts, as reported by syracuse.com. But that pause never took hold — the town council rejected the moratorium by a 3-2 vote in September, and developers have said they plan to start construction of an 870,000-square-foot data center there by the end of this year, per the same syracuse.com report.
Buffalo is weighing a longer timeout. Lawmakers there are considering a two-year moratorium on data centers while they work out a regulatory framework, according to the Buffalo News. Farther afield, the Southbridge Town Council voted 9-0 to send a proposed data center moratorium to its Planning Board for review and a public hearing, with that proposal calling for a 12-month pause and the option of two additional 180-day extensions, according to The Citizen Chronicle. Seattle has gone further still, passing a city moratorium on new data center siting while it conducts comprehensive impact studies, according to a client alert from law firm WilmerHale.
WilmerHale describes this wave of local action as part of a broader movement toward using temporary pauses, environmental review and community-benefit frameworks to regulate an industry that's expanding faster than many local governments can evaluate it. The firm also notes that the stakes can run high for developers caught in the middle — in Chatham County, North Carolina, a company sued to invalidate a local data center moratorium after spending more than $11 million on a planned 750-megawatt project, according to WilmerHale.
What Happens Next in Cortlandville
For now, Cortlandville's path forward depends on what the Planning Board recommends following Tuesday's discussion. Under the process described by 607 News Now, that recommendation goes to the Cortlandville Town Board, which would have the final say on whether the one-year moratorium takes effect. Whether the town follows Dryden toward a permanent ban, Caroline's 18-month pause, or something else entirely remains to be seen.
