HARRINGTON, Del. - A packed Harrington City Council meeting Monday night ended with council members unanimously rejecting an ordinance that would have opened the door for data centers inside city limits.
The proposed ordinance drew strong opposition from residents, with community members speaking for nearly an hour about concerns they said could affect the city's future.
Among the biggest concerns were water, sewer capacity, electricity, infrastructure, noise and potential impacts on the community.
Barbara Bullock, a Harrington resident and former member of the city's planning commission, said many of her neighbors are worried about putting additional demands on infrastructure that she believes is already outdated.
"Most of my neighbors have told me that they're concerned about the water, the sewer, the electricity," Bullock said. "Our infrastructure is outdated anyway, and they have not improved anything here."
Bill Brode, who has lived in Harrington for decades, said he was particularly concerned about the potential noise and water supply associated with data centers.
"My main concern with this is, for one thing, is the noise," Brode said. "From what I've been reading up on, it's going to be a constant hum."
The meeting became heated at times as residents expressed frustration with transparency and urged council members to reject the ordinance.
The proposal would not have approved a specific data center. Instead, it would have added data centers as a conditional use in the city's manufacturing zone, allowing future proposals to potentially go through the city's conditional-use process.
After hearing nearly an hour of public comment, council members voted to deny the ordinance.
Vice Mayor Darrin Simpson said the decision reflected what he believed was in the best interest of Harrington residents.
"It was a council's opinion that it's not something that would be in the best interest of the citizens in the city of Harrington," Simpson said. "So I feel like that's why we voted it down."
The vote was unanimous to reject the ordinance.
Residents who opposed the measure said they were pleased with the outcome and hope the discussion gives the community a greater voice in future development decisions.
Council members encouraged community members to continue attending meetings and voicing their concerns regarding all of the city's matters.
"I would like for the citizens to know that we do have an open door policy. Our emails, our phone numbers are all public," Simpson said. "All the council people are available."
