Westbrook bans standalone data centers
The Westbrook City Council voted unanimously Monday night to prohibit standalone data centers .
The city updated its land use ordinance to remove the use of data centers from the Rock Row Contract Zone. However, it still allows data centers as an accessory use, like server rooms and IT rooms for hospitals and other large organizations.
Previously, the Rock Row Contract Zone was the only place data centers were permitted, and the city’s ordinances didn’t include any additional standards for data centers beyond a usual site plan review.
Mayor David Morse said he supported the ordinance amendment and noted substantial concerns about data centers, such as electricity and water demands, noise and infrastructure burdens.
“First and foremost our resources and infrastructure need to support the people who live here, our existing businesses, and the housing and economic opportunities our community needs,” Morse said. “Resource-consuming data centers are simply not a good fit for Westbrook.”
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Scarborough, Westbrook consider data center bans
In June, the Westbrook City Council passed a 180-day data center moratorium on data centers, though the city hadn’t received any applications to build such a facility like some of its neighbors had.
During the moratorium, the planning board was tasked with reviewing the city’s ordinances and providing a recommendation. It recommended only permitting data centers as an accessory use and updating the city’s definition of a data center.
Westbrook now defines data centers as “one or more buildings or spaces on a property that house networked computer systems and associated equipment, such as servers, network hardware, data storage, power generation or cooling systems, to process and manage data.”
Cities and towns across the state have passed temporary moratoriums, and in a handful of others, voters will decide on their ballots Tuesday to temporarily or permanently ban data centers.
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Tagged: AI, artificial intelligence, data center
Salomé Cloteaux is a community reporter covering Scarborough and Westbrook. She was born in France but lived in Indiana for most of her life before moving to Portland in November 2025. Salomé has a degree. More by Salomé Cloteaux
