Malden Planning Board Unanimously Backs Data Center Moratorium and Citywide Ban

NEWBURYPORT — June 11, 2026 — Malden Planning Board voted 9-0 to recommend that City Council approve a one-year moratorium on data centers and a proposed citywide ban on the new use category. The joint session with the City Council Rules and Ordinance Committee took up City Council Paper No. 276-2026, sponsored by Ward 5 Councilor Ari Taylor, which would prohibit data centers in all zoning districts while the city's Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development conducts studies on infrastructure, environmental, and economic impacts. Planning Director Michelle Ferguson said the moratorium began running from May 22, 2026, and would extend up to one year from the date of final council enactment, with a hard deadline of September 8, 2026 for council action. "Rather than wait for something to come before us, we just want to make sure we're proactively creating ordinances and zoning that make sense for the city," Taylor said. The board also granted 9-0 special permits for a single-room acupuncture clinic at 75 Pleasant Street and, on an 8-0 vote, for Big Daddy Doggy Daycare at 10 Maplewood Street to add overnight boarding — a use the prior owner had operated for years without required permits — subject to a condition requiring the petitioners to submit a floor plan before the kennel opens.