Miami-Dade staff wants data centers barred from new industrial zone
This is not a denial of a project. It is a category-level exclusion drafted before anyone applies.
Miami-Dade commissioners take a transmittal vote Thursday on a countywide plan amendment that would let light industrial uses fill up to 90 percent of a 5-acre commercial site, and county staff is recommending the county pay for that loosening by writing data centers out of the category entirely.
Why it matters
This is the trade a site selector needs to read. Application CDMP20250022, filed by Midwest REO V, LLC and represented by Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart, would amend the text of the county’s “Business and Office” land use category to create an “Industrial Support Center.” Staff recommends transmitting it with changes: rename the subcategory “Business Support Center,” limit the permitted industrial uses to warehouses, logistics facilities and last-mile fulfillment centers, and expressly prohibit telecommunications hubs and data centers.
The distinction matters. Palm Beach County paused new applications, then denied Project Tango outright after we covered its moratorium a week earlier. Those were decisions about projects. This one is a category-level exclusion drafted into the comprehensive plan before an applicant ever files. Both of South Florida’s largest counties have now moved against the use inside two weeks, with Palm Beach escalating twice, echoing New York’s first statewide moratorium.
The numbers
Today the “Business and Office” category allows light industrial only inside Employment Centers, on sites of at least 10 acres with direct access from a major roadway, and caps light industrial at 40 percent of total floor area. The amendment drops the minimum to 5 gross acres and raises the ceiling to 90 percent, with a minimum 10 percent reserved for commercial and retail.
The eligibility screen is narrow. A qualifying site must sit within one mile of a designated terminal and more than 660 feet from residentially designated property, which staff notes limits it to some parcels near Miami International, Miami Executive, Opa-locka Executive and the Amtrak terminal north of NW 79 Street.
What’s next
Thursday’s 9:30 AM hearing is a transmittal vote, not adoption. It sends the application to state reviewing agencies, and the board expressly reserves final action. The Planning Advisory Board already backed the staff version on June 1. Final action is calendared for September 24, 2026, and the agenda is marked preliminary. Nothing is prohibited yet.