Prince George's, Baltimore and Montgomery Rein In Data Center Permits

Councilman Pat Young celebrated a unanimous Feb. 2 Baltimore County Council vote to halt data-center permitting, saying, "I’m happy that we moved forward and happy that we got other council members’ support. We want to make sure these things are done right … give our planning folks an opportunity to make some recommendations." Young framed the measure as a deliberate slowdown, noting the county must be thoughtful about large projects.

The pause in Baltimore County bars new data-center permits while the county planning board prepares a study on placement and regulation, with planning staff set to deliver recommendations by Oct. 1, 2026. The ordinance, introduced by Pat Young and co-sponsored by six council colleagues, requires the Planning Board to hold a public hearing on its findings and contains language limiting extensions: the pause ends 90 days after the council receives the study and cannot extend beyond Jan. 1, 2027.

Prince George’s County appears poised to adopt similar constraints after neighbors learned last year that a developer had secured approval in 2024 to convert a 90-acre former mall site in Landover into what was described as a $5 billion data-center complex. Theaux Le Gardeur of Gunpowder RIVERKEEPER® urged the council to act on resource concerns, saying, "My messaging to the council is thank you. It’s not just a high-intensity industry. It’s not just commercial. It’s really the more intensive resource needs of these sites that should prompt a different zoning code." One community member summed up the surprise some residents felt: "I was thinking, like, a 1990s data center. How big could it be?"

In Montgomery County, County Executive Marc Elrich has proposed restrictive changes that would require public input hearings for all data-center developments and confine such facilities to industrial zones. Elrich has also formally asked the county council for a moratorium while that proposal is considered, signaling synchronized pressure across suburban Maryland to tighten oversight.

The statewide picture shows the push is broader than three counties. Frederick County crews were photographed erecting a data center near Adamstown in February 2026, and Maryland today hosts "a few dozen" data centers while northern Virginia’s Loudoun County established about 200 facilities before changing course on approvals. Griffin Benton of the Maryland Building Industry Association noted the fiscal draw, saying, "There’s obviously the financial win that comes from data centers from property taxes. If there’s a way for these counties to get a quick shot of revenue, this is one way to do it." Observers warn counties could forfeit "tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue annually" by rejecting projects.

At the state level, the General Assembly in a December special session voted to require state agencies to study the environmental, energy and economic impacts of data centers, overriding Gov. Wes Moore’s veto; the bill’s fiscal note places the study cost at $502,000. Local officials and advocates now face competing pressures: the immediate promise of property-tax revenue against concerns about water, energy and neighborhood change.

Materials from Gunpowder RIVERKEEPER® also assert, "They also repealed the 2024 measure which would have data centers disproportionately affecting low income and minority communities," a line that appears to conflict with county records showing 2024 zoning restrictions were enacted. With the Baltimore County planning-board deadline set for Oct. 1, 2026 and moratorium clocks tied to study receipt and a Jan. 1, 2027 cap, the choices these counties make this year will determine whether Maryland becomes a host for sprawling hyperscale centers or a region of tighter limits on where they can be built.