A renewed effort to temporarily halt data center construction in portions of unincorporated Caddo Parish failed to advance Monday during a Caddo Parish Commission work session, as commissioners voted 6-4 against moving the proposal forward.
Resolution 53, introduced by District 4 Commissioner John-Paul Young, would not have enacted a moratorium. Instead, it asked the Caddo Parish Planning and Zoning Commission to consider recommending a moratorium on data center construction in C-3 and C-4 commercial districts and I-1 and I-2 industrial districts within the zoned portions of unincorporated Caddo Parish.
During the work session, commissioners considered whether to advance the resolution for further action. The motion received four votes in support and six in opposition, with two commissioners absent.
Young said the resolution was structured as a request to the Planning and Zoning Commission because of limitations on the Parish Commission’s zoning authority and legal questions raised during an earlier attempt to pursue a data center moratorium.
“The proper procedure for having a zoning rule passed is to have the zoning or planning commission … make a recommendation to us to then consider,” Young said during the work session.
According to the official Caddo Parish Commission agenda, the proposal applied to C-3, C-4, I-1 and I-2 districts in unincorporated Caddo Parish.
Young emphasized that the proposal could apply only to portions of the parish where Caddo has zoning authority.
“It would not affect the unzoned parts of the parish because we have no zoning authority there,” Young said.
He explained that most of Caddo Parish is not zoned and that the parish’s zoning authority extends into an area outside the Shreveport city limits.
The proposal represented a different legal approach from a moratorium discussed by commissioners earlier in August. During that debate, Parish Attorney Donna Frazier advised commissioners that a moratorium could not simply be enacted by resolution.
Frazier explained Monday that Resolution 53 was designed to begin the process through the Planning and Zoning Commission instead.
“What this resolution is doing is requesting the Planning and Zoning Commission to consider a moratorium ordinance to send back to this body for final enactment,” Frazier said.
“This is the mechanism to get that process started.”
Frazier said the earlier proposal sought to have the Parish Commission enact a moratorium throughout unincorporated Caddo Parish. A moratorium, however, must be enacted by ordinance. In portions of the parish governed by zoning regulations, the Planning and Zoning Commission must first consider the matter before an ordinance can come before the Parish Commission.
Young said public concerns about additional data center development were among the reasons he wanted the Planning and Zoning Commission to consider a pause.
“We have heard an overwhelming number of comments from our public, both in person and through other means, that they are suspicious and concerned about data center construction in our region,” Young said.
He added that Caddo Parish has already approved a tax plan for one data center project and said that was “probably enough.”
Young also raised concerns about financing within the broader data center industry and the rapid pace of investment in new facilities. Those comments represented Young’s assessment of the industry rather than findings presented by the parish.
“To me it seems like it’s extremely prudent to press pause on this set of projects that could multiply here,” Young said.
Young stressed that advancing Resolution 53 would not itself establish a moratorium.
“This is not a vote about a moratorium,” he said. “That vote would come later if the PZC recommends a moratorium on data center construction to us.”
Commissioner Stormy Gage-Watts Kracman supported sending the issue to the Planning and Zoning Commission, saying she valued the commission’s deliberative process and wanted its members to examine the issue.
“I really want to hear their take on this and listen to their deliberations on this,” Kracman said.
Commissioner Ronald Cothran asked Frazier to explain publicly how Resolution 53 differed from the previous proposal.
Frazier said the earlier measure called for the Parish Commission itself to enact a moratorium in all unincorporated areas of Caddo Parish. Resolution 53 instead sought to ask the Planning and Zoning Commission to consider a moratorium ordinance covering the areas where the parish has zoning authority and potentially send a recommendation back to commissioners.
Frazier also confirmed that any recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission would not be binding. The Parish Commission would ultimately decide whether to enact any resulting ordinance.
That process will not begin through Resolution 53 following Monday’s work-session vote. The motion to advance the resolution failed with four commissioners in support, six opposed and two absent.
The vote comes amid rapidly expanding data center investment in Northwest Louisiana and continuing debate over how local governments should address the industry’s potential economic, infrastructure and environmental effects.
Caddo commissioners have considered several measures related to data center development in recent months, including proposals addressing water use, discharge filtration and environmental impact studies.
Monday’s action, however, was not a final vote on whether Caddo Parish should impose a data center moratorium. It was a procedural vote on whether to advance a resolution asking the Planning and Zoning Commission to begin considering one. That effort did not advance.