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Regbase

The Data Center Divide

Village of Massena

Pro-Data Center Policies

New York exempts qualifying data centers from sales taxes on certain equipment and services, subject to security and web-hosting conditions. An enacted order is also described as pausing some state environmental permits for new or expanded centers pending review, while excluding local permits and existing operations.

Rating and summary from New York statewide as there are no scored current or future laws outside temporary restrictions for Village of Massena.

pending · Town of Massena
The proposed local law would amend the Town of Massena zoning code to identify data centers as a use requiring site-plan approval in the I General Industrial District and would add a data-center definition.Town of Massena proposed local law amending the zoning code to allow data centers in the Industrial Park (2026)

What this means

The proposal would make data centers an allowed use in the Town’s General Industrial District, opening a path for projects that might otherwise not be permitted there (“Data Centers”). They would still need site plan approval, so this is a meaningful but limited benefit rather than an automatic right to build (“Uses requiring site plan approval”).

People behind it

  • Proposed local law to allow data centers in the Town’s industrial district; the measure was set for a public hearing before the Town Board.

  • Drafted revisions to the Town zoning code addressing data centers as an industrial land use.

Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements1

  • The proposed amendment lists data centers as uses requiring site plan approval in the I General Industrial District; it states that no uses are permitted by right in that district. Data Centers

Benefits & exceptionsHide benefits & exceptions2

  • Allows data centers in the Town’s I General Industrial District through site plan approval; they are not permitted by right. “Data Centers”

  • Defines data centers to include supporting systems such as environmental controls, power distribution, backup generators, redundant feeds, communications infrastructure, and security systems, bringing these operational components within the authorized use. “all supporting and ancillary systems”

Sources

failed · Town of Massena
The proposed local law would temporarily pause data-center development approvals in the Town of Massena while the town considered permanent land-use standards.Town of Massena proposed local law establishing a temporary moratorium on data center development (2026)

What this means

If enacted, this six-month moratorium would block permits for building, converting, or expanding data centers and related power facilities, making development substantially harder for a time (permit restrictions). It would not prohibit operating existing centers, and includes limited exceptions and hardship relief; the sources report the town board voted the proposal down (voted down).

Timing

Ends
six months from its effective date

The draft would expire automatically unless sooner repealed. The Town Board could extend it by local law after a public hearing and findings documenting progress toward permanent standards. The news report says the board voted down the proposed moratorium, so it was not adopted.

People behind it

  • Considered the proposed moratorium at a public hearing and was asked to adopt it; the draft also assigns it oversight of the study and authority to consider hardship-relief applications.

  • Directed by the draft to work with Town-retained consultants to recommend comprehensive data-center standards and report progress to the Town Board.

Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements3

  • For the moratorium’s term, Town officers and agencies may not issue special-use permits, site-plan approvals, variances, subdivision approvals, building permits, or certificates of occupancy for constructing, converting, establishing, or enlarging a data center, or for accessory generation equipment or substations principally intended to serve one. The definition covers facilities for cloud computing, AI, high-performance computing, cryptocurrency mining, and related uses; exceptions include incidental equipment under 1 MW, specified telecommunications facilities, and certain utility-control equipment. The moratorium’s covered approvals and definition

  • The moratorium would last six months from its effective date and expire automatically unless sooner repealed. The Town Board could extend it only by local law after a public hearing and findings documenting progress toward permanent standards. The six-month term and extension conditions

  • For data-center applications, the measure would toll specified statutory time periods for the duration of the moratorium, pausing those clocks during that term. Tolling of specified application periods

Benefits & exceptionsHide benefits & exceptions3

  • An owner may ask the Town Board for hardship relief. The Board may grant it if competent evidence shows that strict application would cause unnecessary hardship, and it may attach conditions. (An owner may apply for relief)

  • The moratorium excludes computing equipment that is accessory and incidental to a lawful principal use on the same lot, provided its connected load is below one megawatt. (connected load of less than one (1) megawatt)

  • The moratorium expires automatically six months after its effective date unless repealed sooner. The Town Board may extend it only by local law, after a public hearing and findings on progress toward permanent standards. (expire automatically on that date)

Sources

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