For nearly a year now, Charles County residents have had to live in fear about the prospects of harmful and dangerous data centers potentially coming into our communities. The Charles County Commissioners and government staff have been relentlessly trying to push through the zoning changes needed to open the floodgates for data center development in the County, despite overwhelming community opposition.

Although Charles County now effectively has a moratorium on these potential data center zoning changes, as the County Commissioners put together a Task Force to look further into data centers, this relief is only temporary, and we have no doubts whatsoever that the County Commissioners and data center corporations will likely resume their attempts to pass a Zoning Text Amendment to allow for data centers in the County once this Task Force (which they plan to have led by shady private consultants, who will most likely be pro-data center) and moratorium ends.

And even if the community can indeed successfully prevent the County Commissioners from passing a Zoning Text Amendment allowing for data centers in the County, this would still not necessarily protect those living in the St. Charles Communities in Waldorf from still having a data center built near them, since that area's zoning and land use approvals are governed by a separate body and process, and thus that part of the County is exempt from the rest of the County's zoning regulations.

All of this is to say, that the only 100% guaranteed way to ensure that data centers can NEVER be built ANYWHERE in the County, is by passing an outright BAN on data centers in Charles County, which would cover the ENTIRE COUNTY! Please fill out this quick letter-writing campaign form to email all 5 County Commissioners, plus the Charles County State Delegation and general election candidates for all of these offices, to call for an immediate legislative ban on any and all data centers in Charles County. It takes less than 1 minute to complete!