Dear [Your Elected Official],

<p>I respectfully ask the Council to adopt a moratorium of not less than twelve months on new data center construction, expansion, and associated on-site generation while Memphis develops a comprehensive framework for this rapidly growing industry.</p> <p><strong>The question is not whether data centers belong in Memphis. It is whether Memphis has any rules governing them.</strong></p> <p>The city has taken on more than a gigawatt of data center load with no zoning definition for the use, no use-specific siting standards, no water conditions, no protections for frontline communities, and no noise limits calibrated to the technology.</p> <p>A pause is not a verdict on this industry. It is twelve months to write the rules that should have existed for over two years.</p> <p>I am asking the Council to:</p> <ol> <li>Adopt a <strong>moratorium of not less than twelve months</strong> on new data center construction, expansion, and associated on-site generation.</li> <li>Direct the <strong>Office of Planning and Development to bring forward a data center use definition</strong> and use-specific development standards before the pause expires, and tie the expiration to adoption of that ordinance rather than to the calendar alone.</li> <li>Develop and convene <strong>a diverse stakeholder body during the pause</strong>, with voting seats reserved for residents of directly affected ZIP codes alongside environmental and public health experts, industry, labor, utility, and agency representatives.</li> <li>Adopt <strong>minimum standards</strong> in the framework for water source and use, setbacks, density, noise, air pollution, public notice, and community benefits.</li> </ol> <p>In the moratorium ordinance, I also request that SpaceXAI is required to provide a certified construction schedule and completion date for the Colossus Water Recycling Facility.</p> <p>This request does not ask the Council to close or reverse data center facilities already operating. Nothing in this request asks the Council to undo what has already happened.</p> <p>It asks the Council to stop approving what Memphis has not yet defined.</p> <p>Neighboring cities have adopted commonsense local ordinances that protect residents while allowing the industry to operate within clear guardrails. Memphis should do the same.</p> <p>We urge the Council to use this twelve-month pause to establish clear, enforceable rules that protect Memphis residents, our air and water, and the long-term interests of our city—while providing the certainty that responsible data center development requires.</p> <p>Pause now. Write the rules. Then move forward with a framework Memphis can stand behind.</p> <p> </p>