Homewood City Council to consider data center moratorium Monday

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The Homewood City Council on Monday, June 22, is scheduled to consider a proposed moratorium on data centers in the city.

The proposed Nebius artificial intelligence factory on the 75-acre former Regions Bank operations center off Lakeshore Parkway in Birmingham and other proposed data center sites have sparked a wave of concern among people warning of potentially harmful impacts.

Across the country, some data centers have drawn much opposition for a variety of reasons, including disruption to the surrounding community, environmental impacts and resource consumption.

Some data centers, particularly some of those dealing with artificial intelligence, require millions of gallons of water daily for cooling, frequently straining local resources in areas where water is scarce. They also sometimes consume large amounts of electricity, raising concerns about utility rates for others in the community.

Opponents also have raised concerns about air, noise and light pollution, electronic waste and the disruption of the landscape since many artificial intelligence factories have been put in large warehouse-like structures.

Other items on the Homewood City Council agenda Monday include:

  • An agreement for a parking lot project at 185 Oxmoor Road
  • Funding for a road project on U.S. 31
  • Rezoning 2773 and 2777 BM Montgomery St. from a C-2 neighborhood shopping district to a C-4 Central Business District zoning classification to permit the renovation and reuse of the existing buildings for the development of a health fitness center
  • Rezoning of about 2,000 square feet of property at 1832 25th Court S. from an I-2 institutional district to a neighborhood preservation district to make the zoning consistent with the majority of the lot

The Homewood City Council has a work session scheduled for 5 p.m. at Homewood City Hall and an action meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Each meeting has different agendas, but items from the work session have the potential to be added to the agenda for the action meeting.

See the work session agenda and the action meeting agenda.