District 7 Councilor Miniard Culpepper has filed an amendment to Boston’s Zoning Code that would prohibit data centers across all zoning districts.

Data centers have been controversial developments in communities across the country. The often massive structures are used for data-storage systems that support artificial intelligence, crypto-mining, and other data-intensive technologies. They consume massive amounts of water and electricity, straining local infrastructure, polluting communities, and raising utility costs.

Culpepper’s amendment would prohibit the construction of data centers within city limits, without restricting server rooms, network closets, or other computing equipment accessory to the principal use of a structure.

“I believe Boston needs to decide proactively whether this is a land use that makes sense for our city, rather than waiting until a major proposal is already before us,” he said. “Boston’s density, scarcity of developable land, and existing demands on our infrastructure are incompatible with the direction we should be taking as a city.”

This comes following an executive order by Governor Maura Healey requiring data center developers to receive local approval before beginning the state permitting process. Data centers would be responsible for paying for their own clean energy or be subject to fees paid to ratepayers and must adhere to local water, air, and community engagement standards.

“Unless a community says yes to a data center, we are saying no,” the Governor said last week. “We’re giving communities a voice and laying out the rules for what needs to happen in Massachusetts.”

District 4 Councilor Brian Worrell said the amendment comes at the perfect time, as communities continue to be bombarded by the threat of data centers in their neighborhoods.

“We have seen the impacts these centers have: Air pollution, strain on our water sources, strain  on our city’s power grid. We do not need unregulated entities taking over our neighborhoods,” he said.

Worrell’s support does clash with his embrace of A.I. The councilor frequently uses generative A.I. tools to promote events and hearings on his social media accounts.

Earlier this summer, both Worrell and Culpepper posted an A.I. generated proposal for an extended Orange Line. The map was comically inaccurate to the actual layout of the city, omitting the bulk of the Orange Line and positioning Aquarium Station in the middle of the Harbor.

In a social media post, Worrell claimed that A.I. tools were only used to upgrade a handmade map.

Generative A.I. tools rely on data centers. In order for Worrell to generate his maps, flyers, and Father’s Day posts, a data center has to exist in somebody’s neighborhood – just not Boston.

The amendment has been referred to the Committee on Planning, Development, and Transportation.