GONZALES - Council members in Ascension Parish ordered a 90-day moratorium on possible data centers as residents raised concerns about proposed projects coming to the parish.

The moratorium is meant to give the council time to finalize guidelines for these facilities. Some council members said they need to address data centers now before a project comes to the parish.

"Data centers are here, AI is a part of life now and so you know we've got to work through this and figure out how we protect our parish from the bad while we have an opportunity to seize the good," Dist. 4 Councilman Brett Arceneaux said. 

Members said they plan to visit other parishes currently working with data centers to get a better idea of how they should address the permitting process.