Moratorium vs Ordinance

Moratoriums are Temporary, Ordinances are Permanent

Jun 01, 2026

The following information was submitted by Jack Staver for all to share..

Note to Jackson County Residents: BOCC meeting June 9 at 9AM

Please share with those living in Washington, Bay and Holmes as they are next.

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According to my research on Moratorium VS Ordinance. FL law, 2025 Statutes, Title XII 166.041 to have a Moratorium you must have an Ordinance first. This would involve public notices, two (2) public hearings for the ordinance to get it passed. It can/will be a lengthy process. After this ordinance is passed the Commissioners must start the process again to do a Moratorium. This will involve the same process as previously mentioned, public notices, public hearings etc. Then after the Moratorium expires in 6-24 months (whatever it is set for) to have a permanent Ordinance the process starts again.

This is actually a good thing for the citizens of Jackson County as it gives us time to SERIOUSLY gather the troops and really get the word out. After what we saw last Tuesday with roughly 250 citizens show up on short notice, people are sick of the “government” telling “We the People” what is going to happen. Remember, they work for us, and if you doubt this, go to the Jackson County website and look at the organizational chart and see who is at the top. It is VERY important to do this and understand what OUR role is. We MUST be in for the long haul, as uncomfortable as it may be, if “We the People” truly don’t want this we MUST be diligent. If not they will steamroll us and we will LOSE forever.

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Letter sent to Commissioners from Jack

Commissioner Westbrook, Commissioner Spires, Commissioner Crutchfield, Commissioner Donofro, Commissioner Branch, County Administrator Dean:

As observed at the meeting Tuesday May, 26 2026 regarding Data centers you all agreed to a moratorium vs ordinance. A moratorium is only a temporary bandaid for 6-24 months, while an ordinance is permanent, see description below.

“An ordinance is a permanent local law enacted by a municipal government (like a city or county). A moratorium is a temporary, emergency type of ordinance used to “pause” a specific activity—such as issuing building permits or approving new developments—to give the government time to create or update permanent rules.” Moratoriums would work in certain instances, but this is not one of them.

Ordinances and Moratoriums follow the same procedural steps to become binding.

You all have clearly seen and heard what your constituents want, and that is they want NO DATA CENTERS. This is happening all across the USA. Eminent Domain is being enacted all across the country, people are losing generational family farms and an ordinance would prevent this.

There is no benefit to the citizens of Jackson County. Data centers have a minimal staff, so they don’t create jobs, they do not manufacture anything. They suck up the county’s resources, infringe on people’s property via noise, water, power consumption which the consumer, not the corporation pay for to get the upgrade needed to operate. The list goes on.

A moratorium is the start of “If the camel once gets his nose in the tent, his body will soon follow”.

Secondly as stated by the County Attorney, (verbatim from video) “so what I think we need to do is a 1yr moratorium that’ll give us enough time to allow Section 65 and SB44 to come into effect and give the county the ability to regulate these Data Centers in a more comprehensive manner. (jump ahead) I think if we go longer than a year, we can open ourselves up to potential litigation”.

This is incorrect. A moratorium as stated is good for 6mo to 24mo. Current Commissioners have the authority to enact an Ordinance at any time without waiting for the start date on a piece of legislation. Once legislation is passed and signed by the Governor it’s final, all the information is there for reference, no need to “wait” for it to start, it’s done. Ordinances have teeth that protect the citizens, moratoriums just kick the can down the road.

The Florida constitution was amended in 1968 that expanded “Home Rule” which gives each county/ city the legal right to make an ordinance without waiting for a piece of legislation to become law. The previous “Home Rule” was in effect from 1885 to 1968. Under the 1885 version “Home Rule” limited the powers that Commissioner/s had.

Please note I emailed the Jackson County attorney (Clayton) at 12:14 on 05.27.2026 for the clarification of where you find “Section 65 and SB44” as I am not able to locate his references of these and have not had a return answer by the time of this writing. I requested clarification for his comment “Section 65 and SB44” as I am not able to locate “Secction 65”. Section 65 of what? SB44 was legislation filed on 09/10/2025 and died in committee on 03/13/2026. It was for “Electronic Payment of Public Records” and has nothing to do with Data Centers. It was not signed by Governor DeSantis.

I am also puzzled by his comment “that can be the moratorium these folks came here for”. People came because they don’t want data centers and an ordinance will provide that protection, not a moratorium. Also, the comment “to do this in a manner that’s legal and protects the county from potential litigation moving forward”. What potential litigation? Again, that’s why the ordinance not moratorium would stop that. I was also troubled by his comment “and regulate these centers from coming into our county”. They don’t need to be regulated, they need to be stopped, that is the will of the residents of Jackson County. Again, an ordinance will do that instead of kicking the can down the road.

Please watch the video from 04:16-06:12 to see where my concerns are. Once we let one of these centers in you will play hell to prevent anymore as the floodgates will be open. Jackson county deserves strong bold leadership, that is why you were elected to represent us, please listen and see why over 200 people came out to be heard. Please act on what you heard and not what the developers want.

Thank you for your attention to this matter

Jack Staver
404.861.0711
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Political Note:

James Fishback running for FL Governor will be in Jackson County on

Saturday June 6.

Applying Knowledge is Power

Karen Schoen.

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