The Village Council voted 5-0 on Oct. 13 to stop taking warehouse and data center applications for 180 days while staff write rules. No application is pending.

Wellington will not accept new applications for warehouses or data centers for 180 days. The Village Council voted 5-0 on Oct. 13 to adopt Resolution No. R2026-51, a “zoning in progress” that freezes those applications while village staff write rules for data centers.

The village published the final action summary of the Oct. 13 meeting this week. It records the vote and what staff told the council.

What the council heard

Planning staff said the pause gives the village time to add rules and definitions to its land development regulations, “up to and including prohibition of data centers.” Staff said the measure would help ease resident concerns about this type of use.

Wellington has no application for a data center, staff told the council, according to the summary.

Nobody spoke at the public hearing. Councilman Stephen Levin moved to adopt the resolution and Councilman Johnny Meier seconded it.

What the pause does

Under the resolution, the village “shall not accept, process, or approve any application related to warehousing/data centers” while it is in force. The freeze lasts 180 days or until the council adopts or rejects the new rules, whichever comes first. The council can extend it by another resolution.

It does not apply to property damaged by the hurricanes listed in Senate Bill 180, the 2025 state law that limits new development restrictions after a storm.

Today, Wellington’s code does not mention data centers. Staff wrote that one would be treated as a warehouse, which is allowed only in the village’s Flex zoning district. The options staff put forward for the new rules, from limiting zoning districts to barring sites that draw 50 megawatts or more, are in our story from before the vote.

Other decisions that night

The council approved these items in a single 5-0 consent vote, according to the summary:

  • Artistry Lakes settlement. Resolution No. R2026-53 adopts an interlocal agreement with Palm Beach County to end the county’s dispute over Wellington’s annexation of the 446-acre Artistry Lakes site on Southern Boulevard. The agreement also needs a vote by the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners.
  • K-Park water and sewer. The village can use a city of Lake Worth Beach contract to price the water and wastewater work at K-Park, the village-owned site on State Road 7.
  • New trash carts. The village can buy refuse carts under an existing government contract.
  • PFAS settlements. Wellington joins settlements with Amerex, Archroma U.S., Carrier Global Corp. and Nation Ford Chemical Co. in the national “forever chemicals” litigation.
  • FPL easement. Florida Power & Light gets an underground easement at the village’s Booster Station 1 site.

The council also passed the annual update to the capital improvement section of Wellington’s comprehensive plan on first reading, 5-0. Acting as the Acme Improvement District board, it started the process to rebuild two private roads in Casa Nella Foresta, which we cover in a separate story.

What it means for you

  • No data center or warehouse application can be filed in Wellington while the pause is in force. If the 180 days run from the Oct. 13 vote, it would end in mid-April 2027 unless the council adopts rules sooner or extends it.
  • The rules themselves come later. New data center rules would change the land development regulations, which means an ordinance with public hearings before the council votes.
  • To follow it, watch the council’s meeting calendar. The next regular meeting is 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, at Village Hall, 12300 Forest Hill Blvd., the village manager said. Our building permits and zoning page explains how projects are reviewed.