March 26, 2026 · Federal Legislation
Legislation
Federal Bill Would Halt All New Datacenter Construction Nationwide
On March 26, 2026 — just weeks after Fort Meade residents forced a delay in the local vote — U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act.
The bill would stop all new datacenter construction across the United States until strong national safeguards are in place to protect workers, consumers, and communities — and to ensure these technologies do not harm the environment.
The bill is a direct response to the unchecked growth of AI infrastructure that is being pushed onto communities like ours without adequate review, transparency, or accountability. Fort Meade's fight is part of a national conversation that is finally reaching Washington.
March 10–12, 2026 · Commission Vote
Breaking
Fort Meade Delays Datacenter Vote After Residents Pack the Meeting
On March 10, 2026, Fort Meade residents showed up in force to the city commission meeting — and they made themselves heard.
Before the meeting began, about a dozen community members gathered outside the Fort Meade Community Center holding signs: "No Data Center" and "Our Health Is Not For Sale." Passing cars honked in support. One woman beat a drum and chanted: "No data center here. Clean water. Clean air."
Inside, roughly 20 residents spoke against the project during public comment. Only one person spoke in favor. The testimony was passionate and personal.
"That revenue means nothing to me. In fact, I said I will pay more taxes if that will keep this data center out of this city."
— Ron Martin, Fort Meade resident
"They believe that this small town, this small community just would roll over. We wouldn't stand up for our town and our way of life. And I think they're slowly realizing that that's not the case here."
— Tyler Hancock, Fort Meade resident
"It gets under my skin that I'm going to have some god-awful building in my front yard, in the middle of our beautiful area out here. Make sure that if you are going to build something out there that it's going to benefit the people that live in this town... because if you don't, none of you will be where you are... they will vote you out."
— Michael Bennett, Fort Meade homeowner who lives half a mile from the site
"I'm sure a lot of people my age will follow suit, because I know a lot of people who want to start their families, or have started their families, they don't want to start it next to a data center."
— Riley Grant, Polk State College student who grew up in Fort Meade
In a surprise move, City Manager Troy Bell asked to convert the final vote on the development agreement into a formal "first reading" — effectively converting it from a resolution to an ordinance. This requires 10 days' notice, two readings, and additional public hearings before any vote can take place.
Earthjustice senior attorney Christina Reichert, who is working with Fort Meade residents, raised concerns about the procedural change itself — noting that the public received zero notice that an ordinance would be considered at that meeting.
"There's still significant gaps in information about this data center. And the information that's missing is exactly what will decide what the impacts of the data center will be."
— Christina Reichert, Earthjustice Senior Attorney
In another stunning development that same night, commissioners voted to terminate city attorney Markeshia Smith's contract and hired TG Law as interim counsel — on the spot, with no prior public notice. Resident Tyler Hancock immediately asked: who exactly is going to be reviewing the Stonebridge agreement?
The ordinance has since been sent to the Planning and Zoning board for a hearing before returning to the full commission. The fight is not over.
March 2026 · Analysis
The Numbers
What Stonebridge Is Promising — And What They're Not Saying
Developer Stonebridge has made several promises to Fort Meade. Here's what they say, and what the record shows.
They say: Up to $138 million in annual revenue for Fort Meade.
Reality: The end user of the facility has not been revealed. No one knows who will actually operate this datacenter, what they will pay, or what that contract will look like. The city is being asked to approve a 20-year agreement with no named tenant.
They say: $10 million toward city infrastructure — water, sewer, and roads — in two installments.
Reality: Residents asked at the meeting: what are the specific conditions for receiving those funds? No clear answer was given. Meanwhile, the facility will draw heavily on the very infrastructure it's supposedly helping to fund.
They say: High-paying job opportunities for local contractors and trades.
Reality: Construction jobs are temporary. After construction, even the largest datacenters typically employ fewer than 150 permanent workers. In Virginia, one datacenter job required $54 million in public investment — 168 times the state average.
They say: Long-term tax revenue for city, county, and schools.
Reality: Stonebridge already received a tax break from the city in 2025. The economic benefit to residents has yet to be demonstrated — while the costs to water, power, noise, air quality, and community character are certain.
February 16, 2026 · Florida
Statewide
Fort Meade Is Part of a Statewide Pattern — And Florida Isn't Ready
Fort Meade is not alone. Proposals for massive hyperscale datacenters are appearing across Florida, often targeting small municipalities with limited staff, limited legal resources, and residents who hear about the projects too late to meaningfully participate.
Earthjustice attorney Christina Reichert put it plainly: local governments are hearing only from the developer — because residents aren't informed until after key decisions have already been made. That is exactly what happened here. The original 5-0 zoning vote in June 2025 was approved before most Fort Meade residents even knew it was happening.
Other Florida communities currently in the fight:
- Palm Beach County — "Project Tango," a 1.8M sq ft datacenter near the Arden community, had its hearing postponed
- Martin County (Indiantown) — First of three public hearings underway on a proposed facility
- Citrus County — Deltona Corp. filed for a comprehensive plan amendment covering ~813 acres
- St. Lucie County — Planning and zoning board voted against recommending rezoning of a 1,200-acre parcel
Florida Senate Bill 484 has passed the Senate and is moving through the House. It would impose stricter public disclosure requirements, mandate environmental review, and keep datacenters away from large residential areas and schools. It's not enough — but it's a start.
March 4, 2026 · The Facts
Data
10 Reasons Datacenters Are Bad for Communities Like Ours
Food & Water Watch published a detailed breakdown of what hyperscale AI datacenters actually do to the communities that host them. Here is the short version — every point applies directly to Fort Meade.
- They raise your electric bill. A single hyperscale AI datacenter can consume as much energy as 100,000 households. That demand drives up rates for everyone.
- They prop up dirty energy. Datacenter expansion is keeping coal and gas plants alive longer and driving construction of new gas plants — more climate pollution, more health risk.
- They drain the water supply. By 2028, U.S. datacenter water use could equal the indoor needs of 18.5 million households. In one Georgia county, taps ran dry after a tech giant started construction.
- They pollute the air. Backup diesel generators run during outages, emitting nitrogen oxides that worsen asthma and cognitive health.
- They drain public funds. Tax breaks and public subsidies for these facilities cost communities millions in foregone revenue.
- They don't create real jobs. After construction, even the largest datacenters employ fewer than 150 permanent workers. Meanwhile, AI is eliminating far more jobs than it creates.
- They blight neighborhoods. Residents near datacenters describe the constant mechanical hum as a lawnmower running 24 hours a day — forever.
- They may represent an economic bubble. AI companies are hundreds of billions in debt. If the bubble bursts, the facilities stay — and the costs remain ours.
- They create toxic e-waste. Servers are replaced every few years. Less than 25% of e-waste is recycled globally; the rest is shipped to developing countries.
- They harvest personal data. AI systems are trained on vast amounts of sensitive personal information — often without meaningful consent or oversight.
June 17, 2025 · Background
How It Started: The 5-0 Vote Most Residents Never Knew About
Long before the March 2026 protests, Fort Meade's city commission quietly voted 5-0 on June 10, 2025 to rezone 1,163 acres of former phosphate mine land west of US Highway 98 to allow datacenter development.
The filing entity was Bohler Places LLC. The land — owned by Florida Eco Park LLC and Polk Industrial Park LLC — had been purchased in 2018 and was used for cattle grazing. Fort Meade's own land development code had no category for datacenters at the time, so a special Planned Unit Development zone had to be created from scratch.
Critically: no end user was named. The city approved a zoning change for a datacenter campus of up to 4.4 million square feet without knowing who would actually operate it. That is still true today.
Most Fort Meade residents had no idea this vote was happening. By the time many of them learned about the project, key decisions had already been made. This is exactly the pattern that Earthjustice attorney Christina Reichert warned about: communities hearing about these projects only after local governments have already taken the first steps.