Choosing Communities & Climate

Baltimore County faces a defining choice about how we use our land, power our economy and protect our communities. Data centers are not a growth strategy—they are a land-use decision with outsized environmental costs and limited public return.

No Data Centers

Data centers consume enormous amounts of energy and water, create relatively few permanent jobs compared to their footprint and often require special zoning exceptions that weaken environmental protections. Without strict standards, they place real burdens on surrounding communities while offering limited local benefit.

Nick will establish a permanent moratorium on data centers in our communities.

Challenging the Norm

Baltimore County should not have data centers that pollute and impact our communties. Nick will guarantee that ban is vigorously enforced.

But the challenge here is the same as the rest of the world. We can choose to lead for a better approach.

Across the country and around the world, there is no accepted standard for a data center that does not consume excessive amounts of energy and water or generate pollution and noise. Yet the data centers powering the growth of artificial intelligence and advanced computing infrastructure are not going away.

Baltimore County’s choice is not simply a choice between innovation and environmental sustainability. We can choose to lead.

Zero Impact Standard

We will create the nation’s first framework requiring data centers to completely offset their electricity demand, water consumption and carbon emissions while protecting local communities.

What Does It Mean to Be a Zero Impact Data Center?

A Zero Impact facility must demonstrate no net increase in greenhouse gas emissions, no net increase in local electricity demand, no net increase in potable water consumption and no degradation of community quality of life, including air quality, noise levels and social equity.

It is the highest possible standard for a facility of this kind because our communities deserve nothing less.

Baltimore County is uniquely positioned to create this standard. We have world-class universities, a strong local information technology and cybersecurity industry, and a centralized location with greyfield sites capable of hosting projects that meet these requirements.

• Zero Impact Computing Commission: On Day One, we will establish a commission that brings together academics, industry leaders, investors, government officials and community representatives with a single mandate: define the Zero Impact Standard for Data Centers and establish Baltimore County as the birthplace of a new global benchmark.
• Earth Day 2027: The Commission will be instructed to publish its final report and establish a nonprofit governance organization by April 22, 2027. The County will provide seed funding if the Commission successfully fulfills its mandate.
• BaltCo Zero Impact Challenge: We will launch a global challenge to universities, entrepreneurs and innovators who believe they can meet the Zero Impact Standard for AI and advanced computing infrastructure. In 2028, Baltimore County will host a demonstration event where competing systems can prove their capabilities.

Enact the Zero Impact Data Center Ordinance

With the Zero Impact Standard defined, we must modernize our land-use code to implement that standard through our land-use policies.

Nick Stewart will pursue a clear, enforceable and community-first approach to data centers and advanced computing in Baltimore County:

• Siting & Zoning: Tighten zoning regulations for data centers to limit where they can be located and prevent them from displacing higher-value mixed-use redevelopment opportunities.
• End Haphazard Approvals: Eliminate special exemptions and spot zoning, ensuring every proposal follows the same rules, environmental reviews and public standards.
• Communities First: Prioritize the redevelopment of greyfields and aging commercial corridors for housing, mixed-use communities and job-rich development that delivers long-term economic value.
• Three-year Grace Period: Any existing AI data centers in Baltimore County will have 3 years to meet the Zero Impact Standard or they will be shut down by the County.

Smart Growth, Not Server Farms

Smart planning is not anti-growth. It is pro-community, pro-jobs and pro-sustainability.

AI, Advanced computing, research and innovation are critical to our economic future. But innovation does not require placing massive server farms next to neighborhoods, schools and sensitive ecosystems.

Baltimore County’s future should be built on people, opportunity and innovation—not server farms that offer little in return.