Hillsborough delays a data center moratorium vote while Auburndale holds a contentious workshop

( stock.adobe.com)Hillsborough County commissioners delayed their vote on a one-year moratorium for hyperscale data centers on Tuesday morning.They want to take up the issue later with two newly elected, incoming board members.The moratorium would buy the county time to decide on rules and regulations for artificial intelligence facilities.There are currently no planned data center developments in Hillsborough, nor pending applications.It was a different story for the city of Auburndale on Tuesday night, where a special workshop was held to learn about a data facility that's already in the works.According to the Lakeland Ledger, about 400 people crowded a room with many opposed to the project called Auburndale Technology Center. Two existing buildings would be converted into a data storage and processing center at 810 Pace Road.This gathering came less than a week after the developer Hillwood filed a building permit.