Data center ordinance

Thanked the board for the delay, asked for specific water-use and recycling guidelines, flagged Piney Z (Possum) springs drying up north of the county, and asked for evening public meetings.

Supported the delay and suggested a 10-megawatt cap, closed-loop refrigerant cooling instead of water, and fuel-cell generators to cut noise and pollution.

Asked the county to invest in a scientific and economic impact study and to hold public meetings explaining the justification for different types of data centers.

A nervous first-time speaker who lives on rural CR 39 asked the county to allow only small, low-water data centers and preserve the rural pastures she loves.

A former data center implementation manager detailed hyperscale water use — up to six million gallons a day per 100 megawatts — property value studies, and grid strain, and questioned who would advise the board.

A Northern Virginia transplant described noise, sleepless neighbors, and abandoned windowless data center buildings that can't be repurposed.

Urged limiting data centers to industrial parks, banning tax breaks, closed water systems, and solar power — and worried the ordinance is a back door.

A hospital CNA worried data centers' water demand would leave his hospital and caregivers unable to bathe patients or provide clean water.

A PhD toxicologist urged stronger guardrails, one-to-three-mile buffers from residences and agriculture, and raised aquifer decline and Village water quality reports.

A Eustis resident with a struggling well asked the board to reconsider, citing documented environmental and agricultural damage from large data centers.

The Umatilla resident said data centers create no jobs, strain power and water, harm wildlife and bees, and urged a complete ban rather than approval.

A retired IBM engineer who ran a corporate data center said they 'eat huge amounts of power' and water, cited a Colorado facility sued into closure, and called the technology half-baked.

Questioned why massive new data centers are needed when capacity is shared nationally, and said 90 days was not enough for proper independent studies.

An unincorporated District 4 resident cited livestock impacts near data centers, electromagnetic radiation, collapsing pollinator populations, and asked for a full ban on large-scale facilities.

The only supportive voice: said doing nothing invites lawsuits, hospitals need data centers, and the ordinance defines and limits the uses — praising staff's work.

Warned that agricultural land can be converted to MP zoning in a single meeting, making it a data center 'overnight.'

A Mount Dora resident said the ordinance opens a back door; many jurisdictions keep moratoriums, and the community cannot rely on utilities or commissioners to say no.

A Mount Dora physician cited holistic health concerns for people and animals, and relayed a prior speaker's calls for no tax breaks and developer-paid utilities.

An unincorporated beekeeper and mother urged rejection of the ordinance, calling CUPs a dangerous loophole, citing diesel generators, air quality, and children nearby.

Discussed driver's license database access companies and data privacy, then said 'the internet is forever, and AI should not happen' and supported saying no to data centers.