Boone Town Council unanimously passed a moratorium, or temporary prohibition, on construction of data centers in Boone.

Nearly 100 residents attended the hearing Monday to show their support for the measure, according to an Instagram post from Boone Mayor Dalton George.

George said the council will continue to pursue regulations and prohibitions on the construction of data centers. The purpose of the moratorium is to give them time to make those changes.

“We’ve seen a lot of communities have these conversations while these centers are already being built, and people in the community are already feeling the effects,” George said.

The opposition to data centers being built in Boone comes partially from environmental concerns. In addition to environmental costs, “noise, energy costs and other externalities” hurt communities, George said.

“We have a small utility, and the strain of a data center cannot be overstated,” George said.

Proponents of a data center or similar facility being built in the area cite economic growth and additional jobs as benefits. However, George said he didn’t completely agree with those arguments.

“The economic benefit of data centers is overstated,” he said.

For now, the moratorium will be in effect for a year, and data centers will be a topic the town council continues to discuss.