The disclosure and our analysis
Evidence dates
Evidence: Anne Arundel County legislation page for Bill 63-26, showing passage on October 5, 2026, viewed October 12, 2026; Bill 63-26 text as amended September 21, 2026, viewed October 12, 2026; county fiscal note dated August 11, 2026; WMAR-2 News report on the October 5 vote.
What the county record shows
**Vote:** Passed October 5, 2026, 7 yes and 0 no. The page lists the bill as amended on September 21, 2026 and introduced July 20, 2026. [Source 1]
**Moratorium:** During the Effective Period the county "shall not accept any new applications of any type" for a proposed data storage center. The Effective Period ends on the earlier of January 31, 2028 or the effective date of legislation based on the work group's recommendations that comprehensively regulates data storage centers. [Source 2]
**What can still move:** Preliminary plan, site development plan, sketch plan, modification and final plan applications filed before the Effective Period begins may proceed, along with related applications filed later and future phases of any existing data storage center on adjacent or adjoining properties. Hearings and decisions on those cases can continue. [Source 2]
**Council freeze:** During the Effective Period the council may not introduce or pass other data center zoning or regulatory legislation, except for an acute emergency, to form the work group, or to enact the work group's recommendations. [Source 2]
**Work group:** Each councilmember appoints one member and the county executive appoints four more, subject to council confirmation, plus ex officio designees from planning and zoning, public works, inspections and permits, the economic development corporation and the Office of Law. Its report is due no later than ten months after the ordinance takes effect. Topics include siting, setbacks, water use and quality, power and energy consumption, noise, impact fees, decommissioning and tax credits. [Source 2]
**Tax change:** The bill repeals the personal property tax assessment reduction for qualified data storage centers. [Source 1] [Source 2]
How the bill changed
As introduced in July, the bill would have removed data storage centers as a conditional use in the C2 and C3 commercial districts and as a permitted use in industrial districts, MXD-S mixed use districts and the Odenton Town Center OTD-I district, according to the county fiscal note. [Source 3] WMAR reports that the council replaced that approach with a moratorium and that the county executive requested the change. WMAR also reports that Microsoft, which is developing a campus at Annapolis Junction Business Park, supported regulations and a work group but wanted existing campuses to keep developing. [Source 4]
Buyer analysis
This is our analysis.
**Pipeline already in process matters most.** The bill does not stop plans already on file or adjacent phases of existing campuses. Capacity that reaches Anne Arundel before 2028 will most likely come from those cases, not from new sites.
**New sites wait at least until the work group reports.** With a report due within ten months of the effective date and a council freeze on other data center legislation, buyers should not expect a new site entitlement path in the county before late 2027 at the earliest.
**Watch the tax change.** Repealing the personal property tax reduction can raise the operating cost of equipment-heavy facilities in the county. The reviewed sources do not quantify the effect.
**Neighboring counties gain relative appeal.** Buyers looking at the Baltimore and Fort Meade corridor may see more new development proposed outside Anne Arundel while the pause lasts.
