The moratorium passed first reading on August 18. The filed text lets the city keep accepting applications for docketing, exempts anything already vested before the ordinance was introduced, and runs twelve months. Two readings remain.
MEMPHIS, August 18, 2026 - The Memphis City Council voted a temporary data center moratorium out of Executive Committee and onto the floor for first reading, sending it down the same day it was introduced. The Council attorney told the committee he had seen the ordinance at the same time the members did.
The ordinance declares a temporary moratorium on the acceptance, processing, approval and issuance of zoning, land use, building and other associated infrastructure permits for data center developments inside the city limits. It is sponsored by Councilman JB Smiley Jr., Chairwoman Jana Swearengen-Washington and Councilwoman Jerri Green. Councilwoman Michalyn Easter-Thomas asked to be added as a co-sponsor at the committee table and was.
What the filed text actually does
Section 2 does not close the permit window. It says the city "shall continue to accept applications for the limited purpose of docketing and completeness review," and tolls every review deadline otherwise applicable under state law, the Unified Development Code, or administrative rule for the duration of the pause. The Division of Planning and Development is barred from processing rezonings, planned developments, special use permits, conditional use permits, site plans, building permits, grading permits, land disturbance permits, or any other discretionary land use approval for a new data center or high-density computing facility.
Section 3 carries five exemptions. Existing facilities that do not expand their footprint, electrical demand, utility capacity or operational intensity are exempt. So is any application "legally vested pursuant to applicable local and state laws prior to the introduction of this Ordinance." So is routine maintenance, repair, replacement or modernization that does not materially increase operational impacts. A fourth exemption carves out computing infrastructure that is accessory to another principal use, listing hospitals, financial institutions, schools, government facilities, offices, retail, manufacturing and telecommunications. The fifth allows the Council itself to grant a waiver on written findings that strict application would deny an applicant all economically viable use of the property.
Section 5 sets the duration at twelve months from the effective date, or until permanent regulations are adopted, or until the Council repeals or amends it, whichever comes first. The Council may extend it. The ordinance requests a progress report from the Division of Planning and Development within six months.
The study list
Section 4 directs the Division of Planning and Development, working with a study committee of a Council chair and vice chair, Memphis Light, Gas and Water, and other industry experts, to recommend permanent zoning rules. The filed text lists seventeen minimum subjects, including separation distances from homes, schools, parks and hospitals, noise limits, water consumption and cooling technology, and allocation of infrastructure costs to developers so utility customers are not charged for costs attributable to new high-demand facilities.
Councilwoman Easter-Thomas offered a friendly amendment adding an eighteenth item, guidelines for required community benefits agreements. It was accepted. Councilwoman Pearl Eva Walker said the ordinance does not use the words clean energy and asked how to make it more specific on that point. Councilwoman Rhonda Logan said she would bring an amendment at the next reading. Councilwoman Janika White said she received the ordinance that afternoon, said she supports the study and the committee, and said she had not determined the collateral consequences of a moratorium.
Councilman Smiley and Councilwoman Green both said the Council learned of a data center expansion from media coverage rather than from the company or the administration. Councilman Dr. Jeff Warren said businesses had contacted members worried about the signal a pause would send, and argued any moratorium needs firm timelines so applicants know when rules will exist.
Chairwoman Swearengen-Washington said the second data center site requested 1.1 gigawatts from Memphis Light, Gas and Water, and that in 2023 the utility provided 7.36 gigawatts to all commercial and industrial customers combined. She said Memphis has twelve data centers in total. Those figures were stated at the meeting and are not in the filed ordinance.
What happens next
The ordinance passed first reading on August 18, 2026. Under the Council's ordinance process it requires two further readings before adoption. Councilwoman Logan and Councilwoman Walker each said they would bring amendments at a later reading.
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