Atmosphere Data Centers, the developer behind a planned data center in Dickerson, has filed an appeal of County Executive Marc Elrich’s six-month moratorium on permits for data center development.

Elrich confirmed the appeal during his weekly media briefing Thursday, but declined to elaborate on the filing in detail, citing “legal” concerns.

“They’d like to proceed as quickly as they can,” Elrich said of California-bsaed Atmosphere. “My concerns were shared, I think by everyone on the council and a whole bunch of people in the community. We have never had to deal with these mega data centers, and so nothing in our code deals with the kind of issues that these centers are raising.”

Atmosphere filed its appeal with the county’s Office of Zoning and Administrative Hearings, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Banner.

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A spokesperson for Atmosphere also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Elrich issued the moratorium last month after months of debate among elected officials over how to address concerns about the centers’ environmental impact.

“It is not an effort to block a data center, but it’s an effort to make sure that if we’re going to do these, we do these right,” Elrich said during Thursday’s briefing. “I happen to believe it is possible to do them right.”

Data center pushback

Residents and county officials worry that data centers will increase water use, contribute to water and air pollution through excessive electricity emissions and raise energy bills. There are at least four data centers in Montgomery County, according to the planning board.

The council is still considering two bills that would extend the moratorium. One sponsored by at-large council member Evan Glass would institute an additional six-month moratorium and another sponsored by at-large council member Will Jawando, who in June won the county executive primary, would place a two-year pause on data center development.

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The council is also considering a zoning bill, sponsored by council President Natali Fani-González and council members Marilyn Balcombe and Laurie-Anne Sayles, that would determine where data centers can be built and which land-use regulations they must follow. The three sponsors announced technical changes to their bill Wednesday that would keep the process in alignment with the moratorium, including by codifying it through legislation.

After Elrich announced the moratorium in June, Atmosphere CEO Chuck McBride told The Banner in a statement on June 12 that the company respects “the county’s desire to take time to evaluate data center policies and appreciate the opportunity for a public discussion about these important issues.”

“We continue to believe the Dickerson Energy Campus is Montgomery County’s most appropriate location for a data center campus,” McBride said.

This is a developing story.