Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The widespread issues surrounding the future of data centers are now at the topic of discussion among lawmakers in the City of Buffalo.
A resolution has been presented to the Buffalo Common Council from North District Councilman Joe Golombek, seeking a two-year moratorium on any potential new data center or crypto mining facility across the city limits.
"What I think the city needs to do is put together proper zoning and ordinances so that when these do come in the future - I'm sure they will be in the City of Buffalo, that there will be more of them - but that they're done properly and they're not going to be a quality of life issue for the immediate area residents," said Golombek on Tuesday during an appearance with Joe Beamer on WBEN.
This moratorium could be changed or revoked at any time, if the Council was to get the votes.
A total of six Council members, including Golombek, have signed on to sponsor the resolution, giving it a veto-proof majority needed if Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan were to veto the bill.
Golombek is still open to the parameters of the moratorium, which will be discussed later in committee, but is very aware of the common complaints that larger data centers bring to a community.
"I know there are problems with noise with many of these places. And with the amount of electricity that is used by them. Those are the things that we're going to be looking at. We want to make sure that if they're the same types of systems they have right now, they wouldn't literally be able to be put right next door to a residential property," Golombek said.
"I want to make sure that the city and the residents that live here get taken care of to the best of our abilities. I mean, heck, the city just raised taxes on them. It would be nice if we did something positive for our residents for a change."
There are a small number of data centers already located across the city, but Golombek says none of them have presented major problems, for the most part.
"I think the reason is because I think most, if not all of them are under 20 megawatts, I believe. So the smaller they are, the less impact they have on the immediate neighborhood," he noted.
This has been a resolution Golombek has taken his time to craft after several people in his district asked him if he'd be willing to talk to some people that knew far more about data centers than he did.
"I tried to talk to people that are pro and anti, argued with them and listened to them. And after talking to people on pretty much all different sides of that issue, I thought, 'We're not really zoned or ready for these in the City of Buffalo,'" Golombek acknowledged. "They've come willy nilly so far, but if all of a sudden we had 10 or 12 or 15 that wanted to come in or a very, very large one, we're just not prepared for them. So I think I'm trying to be proactive, and I think my colleagues are trying to be proactive."
The Town of Tonawanda recently approved a one-year moratorium on data centers, where building permit applications and requests for site plan approvals cannot be filed, accepted, or processed by the town.
