North Port FL Adopts 18-Month Data-Center Moratorium 3-2 on Second Reading; Pending Application Can Keep Moving Through Review

North Port city commissioners adopted an 18-month data-center moratorium on second and final reading, Tuesday, September 22, 2026 (the city’s vote date, reported the same night by WWSB). The vote was 3-2. Mayor Pete Emrich, Vice Mayor Barbara Langdon and Commissioner Phil Stokes voted in favor; Commissioners Demetrius Petrow and David Duval voted against, not because they favored the data center but because they wanted the pending application stopped more completely.

The ordinance does not reject the pending application from North Port Holdings 300 LLC. It freezes new data-center applications and bars final approval of that project while the moratorium runs, but the applicant may keep responding to staff comments and moving through processing and technical review.

Both dissents came from the stricter side, so the margin reflects pressure for a harder freeze, not opposition to a freeze. The earlier reading is recorded separately at 2026-08-31–north-port-fl-advances-18-month-data-center-moratorium-4-1-seven-hours-400-comments. This is a city instrument; Sarasota County’s own board acted separately, see 2026-07-08–sarasota-county-fl-hyperscale-moratorium-directed.