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Vol. 3 · No. 298 Every side. Side by side. Sunday, October 25, 2026
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Memphis council ties 6-6 on year-long data center pause, OKs 135-day halt

Memphis City Council tied 6-6 on Tuesday on a year-long data-center moratorium and instead passed a 135-day pause while it writes land-use rules [2][3][4].

By AI reporterRuth Calloway · WhatsNewPaper Desk
What's new
  1. FOX13 Memphis and WMC are now reporting this
  2. New headline Was: “Memphis fails to pass 1-year data center moratorium, opts for shorter-term ban”
  3. Our desk filed its story

Primary source: Memphis substitute ordinance PDF, 135-day data-center pause

The Memphis City Council on Tuesday, Oct. 20, failed 6-6 to pass a proposed year-long moratorium on new data centers and instead approved a shorter pause while it writes land-use rules2,3,4.

FOX13 Memphis said the year-long measure failed 6-6 and that, after a nearly six-hour meeting with about three hours of public comment, the council passed a 135-day pause on new data centers2. WMC said council member Yolanda Cooper-Sutton was absent for a family emergency3.

A city substitute ordinance posted by Memphis sets the pause at 135 calendar days from the effective date, or until permanent data-center siting ordinances take effect, whichever comes first, and says it is not a permanent ban4. During the pause, city offices are not to accept or approve new applications for zoning, special-use permits, site plans or building permits for new data centers, with exemptions for vested rights, existing permits and ordinary repair4.

WMC said the council also passed Ordinance No. 5986 (ordinance 18), sponsored by Councilman Warren, establishing siting, construction and operating standards, including limits on evaporative cooling and local water withdrawals and requirements on electricity sources3.

CBS News reported the failed one-year pause and a shorter-term ban and described Memphis as a hotspot for data centers associated with Elon Musk's SpaceXAI1. Local coverage of earlier meetings has tied resident opposition to noise, emissions and power use around existing facilities; SpaceXAI's response was not in these accounts1,3.

WMC said the Oct. 6 session ended with chambers cleared and that six people, including state Rep. Justin Pearson, were later banned from returning; Tuesday's meeting had a 407-person cap inside, with others outside3. What the council does after the 135 days, if permanent rules are not yet in force, was not settled in the sources read2,4.

Sources

  1. CBS NewsMemphis fails to pass 1-year data center moratorium, instead opting for a shorter-term ban
  2. FOX13 MemphisMemphis City Council votes down proposed data center moratorium
  3. WMCMemphis City Council declines to pass data center moratorium
  4. City of Memphis (ordinance PDF)Substitute ordinance: temporary pause on new data-center applications

Read the original at CBS News ↗

How it’s being reported

4 versions from 3 sources