After a nearly five-hour meeting, the board of directors unanimously approved an ordinance governing future data center projects.
After a contentious meeting filled with concerned residents, the Little Rock board of directors, the city's legislative body, voted to approve an ordinance that regulates data centers in the city, reports Ainsley Platt for the Arkansas Advocate.
"The nearly five-hour meeting was packed with local residents who provided feedback on the ordinance and Google’s plans to build a 300,000-square-foot data center in the Port of Little Rock." Meeting attendees called on the board to enact a temporary ban on new data centers and develop stronger regulations.
Nevertheless, the board moved ahead with the regulations. "Mayor Frank Scott, Jr. emphasized the ordinance could be strengthened as the city learns more about the Google data center, and said it wasn’t possible for local governments to ban data centers outright."
Read the full story: Arkansas’ largest city approves new data center ordinance
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