Zoning Webinar Outlines Overlooked Front in Data Center Permitting Fights

WASHINGTON, June 29, 2026 — While the widespread local opposition to data centers has drawn headlines, the role of zoning boards in settling and creating these controversies has gone largely unnoticed.

Panelists at a June 24 webinar hosted by real estate law firm Phillips Lytle suggested various ways to overcome the increase in zoning challenges created by local opposition to data centers.

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Phillips Lytle partner David Flynn moderated the discussion. Dennis Elsenbeck, Head of Energy and Sustainability at Phillips Lytle, and senior associate Lauren Adornetto addressed current challenges facing data center developers, such as moratoriums and permitting delays. Kant Trivedi, co-founder of data center developer BlockFusion, explained how his data center in Niagara Falls had navigated these challenges.

Flynn and the other panelists opposed New York State’s proposed one-year moratorium on data centers, believing it would hinder economic development while leaving bigger challenges such as transmission capacity unaddressed. Both chambers of the New York legislature voted to pass the bill earlier this month, but governor Kathy Hochul has not yet signed it.

The legislation is “taking a shotgun out to address a sore finger,” Flynn said.

Elsenbeck outlined the extensive review process data centers already go through to receive local approval. Elsenbeck said it takes 1-2 years to connect to New York’s regional grid, an additional year to pass the local utility’s facility study, and 3-4 years to plan the construction schedule. Data center projects may also require multiple levels of local review, such as discretionary land reviews and special use permits.

“So the idea of a moratorium is kind of strange,” Elsenbeck said.

Elsenbeck is a consultant and active member of the New York State Climate Action Council, a state regulatory body created in 2019 to achieve the state’s climate goals. Elsenbeck previously worked as the regional director of National Grid, a utility based in New York and Massachusetts, for nearly 30 years.

Trivedi projected confidence in his company’s efforts to meet the new criteria, but said he doesn’t want the state of New York to be “left behind” due to overly strict regulations. Other data center developers have pulled out of states such as Illinois, Michigan, and Virginia after intense community pushback.

Adornetto suggested things developers could do during a moratorium, such as planning the site design and addressing common local concerns about water, power, and noise.

“Get some written comments in that explain the nature of the use, that it’s consistent with other industrial uses, [and] that it can be handled under similar standards that the code already offers,” Adornetto said. “The approach should always be, ‘we’re here to offer common sense.’”

Adornetto told Broadband Breakfast that she has not encountered opposition from zoning board members themselves.

“In my experience, the members of planning boards…are genuinely doing their level best to apply the regulations that are in front of them to a specific project,” she said. “Of course the feeling in a hearing room, if there are a hundred hissing constituents, can influence any board member.”

Adornetto and Trivedi emphasized the importance of sincerity, community involvement, and a clear administrative record in addressing objections early and proactively.

“The community is a key stakeholder, not an obstacle,” Trivedi said.