Homewood City Council Meeting - June 22, 2026

Our Take

Credit to the City of Homewood channel for putting the full council meeting online, because this is the kind of local governance that rarely makes headlines but matters enormously. Buried between a rezoning for a studio project and two alley vacation hearings, Homewood's council approved a temporary moratorium on new large-scale data center applications. Translation: no more permits get rubber-stamped while the city actually studies what these facilities mean for power, water, noise, and land use, and writes zoning rules before the next developer shows up with a fully drawn site plan and a deadline.

This is the sequencing that so many communities across the country got backwards. Data center developers move fast, often approaching towns that have no specific zoning category for a 24/7 industrial load center disguised as an office park. By the time residents learn about substation upgrades, water withdrawal permits, or tax abatements, the deal is already signed. Homewood is doing the boring, unglamorous thing right: pump the brakes, hold hearings, write the rules, then let projects compete under clear standards. It costs nothing in headlines but could save the city years of regret.

We'll be watching what standards Homewood actually adopts once the moratorium period ends — whether they address water use, noise limits near neighborhoods, or who pays for grid upgrades. If your town hasn't had this conversation yet, now's the time to push for it before a developer forces the issue. Check our facility map to see what's already been approved near you, and visit our take-action page for tools to bring this kind of proactive zoning debate to your own city council.