South Bristol Town Supervisor Lisa Moore anticipates the town board will adopt a ban on data centers before the end of the year, following a public hearing on Oct. 12.
In light of proposed data centers on Seneca and Cayuga lakes, the town looked into the possibility of a town-wide ban on data centers. At the Oct. 12 public hearing, all of the roughly dozen statements were in favor of the ban, a town news release said.
“South Bristol encompasses more than 20% of Canandaigua Lake’s shoreline and plays a critical role in the lake’s watershed,” Moore said in a statement. “Our residents deeply value this aspect of our town’s identity. I am in no way surprised that they strongly support this action.”
The proposed ban comes after the town’s Community
Engagement Committee examined the issue and spoke with Dryden Deputy Town Supervisor Dan Lamb about that community’s experience with its ban. Other communities have taken similar steps, including Henrietta’s proposed one-year moratorium on data centers. The town also sought input from the town and county planning boards and is in the process of a state environmental review.
The announcement comes as Town of Torrey residents plan to meet on Oct. 13 for a community forum on Vulcan Infrastructure and Power’s proposal to expand and move from cryptocurrency mining to a hyper scale AI data center at its power plant on the shores of Seneca Lake. Vulcan previously operated as Greenidge Generation.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: South Bristol moves closer to banning data centers
