Little Rock will not pause data center projects, at least not yet. For the second time this year, the city's Board of Directors failed to pass a data center moratorium, this time deadlocking 4-4 on Tuesday night on a six-month pause, the Arkansas Times reported. Six votes are needed to pass an ordinance.
What the moratorium would have done
The ordinance would have given the city time to set restrictions and rules on water, noise, emergency infrastructure, zoning and monitoring for data center projects, according to the Arkansas Times. The push comes as Google plans to build a $1 billion data center at the Port of Little Rock.
The board took up a similar measure in August, when some members tried to pass an 18-month moratorium. That vote also failed, with the same directors voting the same way, the Times reported. Both measures were sponsored by Director Kathy Webb.
How the vote went
Directors B.J. Wyrick, Virgil Miller Jr. and Andrea Lewis joined Webb in voting yes. Directors Capi Peck, Lance Hines, Dean Kumpuris and Joan Adcock voted no. Director Antwan Phillips abstained, according to the Arkansas Times.
Peck was listed as a co-sponsor of the measure. She told the board she had read and marked it up several times but still found it "pretty technical." She asked Brad Jordan, the city's director of Planning and Development, whether his department could handle what the ordinance would require.
"Whatever we're asked to do, we'll do it and we'll do it well," Jordan said, adding that doing it in such a short time would be challenging. "It means for the next year, we'll be doing this."
The chamber weighs in
Kumpuris invited Jay Chesshir, head of the Little Rock Regional Chamber, to speak. Chesshir argued that most of what the ordinance covered is already handled by local, state or federal agencies, including the state health department, the Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Passing a local ordinance that conflicts with those agencies would invite "legal and litigation risk," he said, according to the Times.
About a half-dozen residents spoke in favor of the moratorium, and one spoke against it.
What's next
Webb told the Times the outcome was "a shock." She said she may be done pushing for a moratorium, but noted that when the board passed an ordinance regulating data centers in June, she promised to keep improving it. "I keep my promises," she said.
Why it matters for contractors
With the moratorium defeated, Little Rock remains open for data center development under the rules the board adopted in June. That keeps the door open for the Google project at the Port of Little Rock, a $1 billion investment that could mean a long stretch of work for central Arkansas contractors if it moves ahead.
Data center campuses bring large packages for sitework, concrete, structural steel, electrical and mechanical systems, and they often need utility and road upgrades too. Local electrical and mechanical contractors in particular should be watching, since power and cooling make up the biggest share of a data center's construction.
That said, the debate isn't over. Webb's promise to keep improving the June ordinance means new local requirements on water, noise or emergency infrastructure could still come. Contractors pricing data center work in Little Rock should check the current ordinance and stay alert for amendments that could change site design, equipment enclosures or utility requirements mid-stream.