The Baltimore County Council passed a bill Monday night to temporarily freeze development of data centers, saying it needed more time to understand the benefits and drawbacks of the rapidly expanding, yet increasingly divisive, tech facilities.

The legislation, introduced by Councilman Pat Young and co-sponsored by his six council colleagues, passed unanimously. It blocks the county from issuing permits for data centers until the Planning Board studies their potential environmental and economic impacts, and develops recommendations on how to regulate them.

The pause expires 90 days after the council receives the study and cannot extend past Jan. 1, 2027.

The Planning Board is required to hold a public hearing on its findings.

The county joined a growing list of local jurisdictions attempting a more measured approach to data centers — massive warehouses that store servers, drives and other IT infrastructure, which have proliferated amid the artificial intelligence boom. While supporters say data centers generate jobs and tax revenue, critics warn they strain energy and water resources and drive utility rates higher.

Like Baltimore County, Frederick and Prince George’s counties previously implemented their own data center moratoriums, while Carroll County is currently weighing a similar proposal.

Meanwhile, state lawmakers last year overrode a Gov. Wes Moore veto and enacted legislation studying the impacts of data centers, an approach Baltimore County is mirroring.

The council seemed more open to data centers as recently as 18 months ago, when it passed a zoning bill allowing data centers and energy storage devices to be built in the county’s southeast and southwest corners.

Since then, the debate around data centers has intensified. Grassroots opposition from residents and environmental groups has stalled proposed data center projects across the country, including one at the Landover Mall site in Prince George’s County.

In recent months, a developer’s intention to convert a vacant Social Security building in Woodlawn into a 42-acre, 150-megawatt data center has sparked public uproar. Some community members raised equity concerns about placing the development in a majority-minority area that already faces disproportionate environmental impacts.

The backlash forced county lawmakers to retreat from their support of the 2024 data center bill and acknowledge they had more to learn about the industry.

“A year and a half ago, when someone said data center, what we thought in our minds did not include what we found out now: the impact on infrastructure, the impact on water, the impact on power,” said Young, a Democrat whose westside district includes the proposed project, during debate over his bill last month. “It makes sense for a moratorium, in my opinion.”

No permit requests for the Woodlawn site were filed before Monday’s vote. Christopher Mudd, a lawyer representing the site’s developer, Security Land & Development Co., told the council last week that his client was nearing an agreement with a data center operator to back the project.

Mudd joined the Maryland Tech Council, trade organizations and labor unions in asking the council to shorten the duration of the moratorium, warning a prolonged freeze could deter development that might bring jobs and tax revenue.

Those concerns prompted Councilman Izzy Patoka to offer an amendment that would have paused permits until Aug. 30, rather than for as long as a year.

“I think it’s important that we push ourselves, we push our departments, we push us as a legislative body to move as quickly as we can to add stimulus right here in Baltimore County,” Patoka told the council Monday.

The amendment failed by a 5-2 vote.

In another sign that the council is pulling back on a politically charged issue, Patoka and Councilman David Marks introduced a bill last month that would repeal the 2024 regulation allowing data centers in certain areas of the county. As a result, county zoning wouldn’t address where data centers could be located.

The measure is scheduled for debate at a work session next week and a final vote on Feb. 17.