EDGEWATER, Fla. — Residents will get to decide whether AI data centers will ever be built in the community.
The City of Edgewater voted to put the issue on the November ballot.
While there are no proposals for any AI company to come to Edgewater or even Volusia County, city leaders said there is still a lot of undeveloped industrial land and they wanted to be proactive.
Development has been a controversial topic in the city of Edgewater; it even led to a total ban on building in 2025 due to excessive flooding. Mayor Diezel Depew said the community’s concern has now shifted beyond new neighborhoods and homes to massive industry popping up on untouched land.
“We’re an industrial community. We have a lot of boat manufacturing here in our community and a lot of people still moving here to move their industrial businesses here,” said Depew.
One type of industry Depew said most residents don’t support is AI Data Centers.
“We just don’t have enough data in front of us. What we do know is they use a lot of water and a lot of power and a lot of resources here in the community,” said Depew.
An area of concern is the Deering Park Development now underway which spans over 70,000 acres in both Edgewater and New Smyrna Beach and stretches from Volusia to Brevard County. It’s zoned for homes, industry and commercial use.
While there are no data center proposals on the table now, Depew wants to prevent them from ever being possible in Edgewater city limits.
“It could be straight zoning in Deering Park where it’s zoned industrial but we have an industrial park here in our community as well so there’s a lot of areas a data center could go,” said Depew.
The city moved forward with a ban on AI Data Centers, and it will officially be up to voters to decide in November.
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.