Jackson city leaders spent Monday in back-to-back meetings on data centers, advancing a six-month moratorium proposal and a parallel regulatory framework that together would give the city its first set of controls over the industry. No final vote was taken. But the shape of what is coming is now visible.

The Jackson Planning and Economic Development Committee met at 4 p.m. Monday to review a draft regulatory framework for data centers. The draft includes definitions, zoning standards, and opportunities for council review, according to News From The States. Two hours later, the full City Council held a special meeting to take up a six-month moratorium on data center development and expansion.

Council President Brian Grizzell proposed the moratorium in May, just as the city Planning Board was considering a rezoning application from Saxum Investment Group LLC for roughly 190 acres along Forest Avenue in Northwest Jackson. The Planning Board postponed that vote first to June 24 and then indefinitely, pending the city’s completion of data center regulations.

Grizzell made clear Monday that the council is not ready to approve anything yet. “We know that Mississippi, the Southeast actually has a lot of cheap land and also offers a lot of cheaper labor, so you have these big entities that want to rush in and make these things happen,” Grizzell told WAPT. “But there’s a lot of groundwork that needs to happen before we allow these developments to come in.”

The council president listed unanswered questions about engineering, environmental impact, and the city’s broader needs. “We still need to talk to engineers and environmentalists,” he said. “Jackson still needs basics like better schools and more grocery stores in neighborhoods.”

The Monday meetings follow a June 22 public hearing where more than 20 residents spoke against data centers and only one spoke in favor. Residents packed City Hall, carrying signs that read “No Data Centers” and “Can’t Drink Data.” The council had tabled Grizzell’s original moratorium on a 4-2 vote in May after a debate over whether the ordinance followed proper zoning procedure.

The difference this time: the council has a draft regulatory framework to work from. The Planning and Economic Development Committee reviewed it Monday afternoon. Once the full council approves a final version, an additional public hearing is expected before any vote, according to the Jackson Association of Neighborhoods.

Ward 7 Councilman Kevin Parkinson asked Hinds County Economic Development Authority Executive Director Hunter Gardner whether a moratorium would kill potential projects, according to News From The States. The question underscored the tension the council faces: residents are overwhelmingly opposed, but the city has not formally rejected the possibility of data center development.

The next milestone is July 14, when the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality holds a public hearing on an air permit application for the Entergy Mississippi Traceview Advanced Power Station. The hearing is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Greater Pearlie Grove Missionary Baptist Church on West County Line Road. The power station is tied to data center infrastructure in the region.

Jackson has no data centers within city limits today. Clinton has an Amazon data center under construction. Ridgeland has one operating. Southaven’s xAI facility has become a cautionary tale that residents and council members cite repeatedly. “Every single guardrail and guideline that was meant to protect us has failed,” Southaven resident Shannon Samsa told Jackson leaders in March.

The council is expected to take up the moratorium ordinance again at its next regular meeting. The draft regulations will go through additional revisions. The question no one on the council has answered yet: whether “temporary” means six months, or something longer.