Fort Meade residents work to block potential data center

FORT MEADE, Fla. — Polk County residents are working to block a potential data center from coming to Fort Meade.

Data centers house large computer servers for major corporations. In June, city commissioners approved land-use and zoning changes for the facility. Since January 2026, they’ve held town halls to hear from the community.

Like with anything in life, Tiffani Kline says time spent on her porch has shown her that change is inevitable.

“You have to have change to continue to grow, especially in a small town like Fort Meade. You don’t want it to die, so to speak,” Kline said.

Over the years, she has watched the small community slowly become more alive. But she says what hasn’t improved much is the infrastructure.

“The city doesn’t really have the infrastructure to really house something. The data center that they’re proposing is going to be 4.4 million square feet. So roughly the property is around 1,300 acres, so I don’t feel like we have enough infrastructure.”

Like many other residents, Kline believes the proposed data center would drain the city’s water and energy resources. Typically, data centers rely on large amounts of water to keep their equipment cool.

“If we can’t sustain what is already here, how are we going to sustain something that is that big?” she said.

According to the developing company, Stonebridge’s recent plans show the facility — which would be located on U.S. 17 — would require 50,000 gallons of water per day.

In a statement, company principal Doug Firstenberg said:

“The development will fund its own infrastructure costs for all utilities, including those related to Duke Power. We have been coordinating with local utilities to ensure sufficient capacity is available. For water, in particular, we are committed to a closed‑loop mechanical system, which means water use will essentially be limited to bathrooms and kitchens. This results in a very low commercial demand, reducing the approved allocation by more than sixty percent. The City will also benefit from significant revenue growth, including real estate taxes and municipal service taxes, as well as both short‑ and long‑term job creation.”

Newly appointed Mayor of Fort Meade Jaret Williams says he is taking in all of this information right along with residents. He assures the city will not make any decision that isn’t in the best interest of the community.

“What’s important to me is the education and that residents feel like they have a voice because you can sell anything, but what I want to make sure is that they don’t feel there’s been any type of bait and switch or there’s been a short sale,” Williams said. “A list of promises that can happen and will happen, and then whatever company gets on the ground, they don’t make good on those promises.”

As for Kline, she says there’s no way to know for sure what the long-term impact would be.

“How can they guarantee what they need? And who’s to say that’s not going to change later on, once it’s completely built? There are a lot of empty questions and promises at this point,” she says.

Stonebridge is looking to have the first building for the data center complete by 2028. So far, developers haven’t purchased the property or announced which company would operate it.