is DeSantis stopping the plans for the largest Datacenter to be built in Florida?

I heard something about Ron DeSantis blocking the development of Florida's largest data center in St. Lucie County. And the county commissioners aren’t happy about this political interference with this project. Can you tell me about this and as well as what the plans for the data center were? And if the plans for this are scrapped, then are there alternative plans for this data center?

ChatGPT 5.2 said:
What you’re hearing about is almost certainly the Sentinel Grove Technology Park proposal near Fort Pierce in St. Lucie County (also described as an AI / hyperscale data-center “campus”).

What the data-center plan was

Key details that have been reported from filings / county notices and local coverage:

• Site: ~1,218 acres on former citrus grove land near Minute Maid Rd. and Orange Ave (SR 68), south/east of the C-25 Canal.
• Scale: zoning request could allow up to ~15 million sq ft of development (with ~5 million sq ft in an initial phase cited in one notice).
• Power / “largest” framing: pitched as up to ~1 GW (1,000 MW) of data-center capacity and ~$13.5B in long-term private investment for the first 1,000 MW.
• What it would include: a “technology park” concept including data infrastructure/utility facilities, data-center facilities, and related/support structures.
• Water/wastewater concept: at least one report noted non-county-provided water/wastewater (i.e., private/self-contained facilities) as part of the concept.

What actually happened locally (so far)

Important nuance: the county commission hasn’t approved it. What happened is:

• The St. Lucie County Planning & Zoning commission recommended against the comprehensive plan / land-use change (reported as a 4–2 vote).
• After that recommendation, the proposal had not yet gone to the full County Commission for a final vote, and county staff indicated the developer was engaging residents and exploring refinements.

So, independent of Tallahassee, the project was already stalled at the local planning stage.

Where DeSantis fits in (and why people say “blocked”)

DeSantis hasn’t “vetoed” a single St. Lucie vote (counties handle zoning), but his administration has pushed a statewide policy direction that can effectively stop or reshape projects like this—especially when they’re proposed on agricultural land.

What’s driving that:

• DeSantis publicly rolled out a “Citizen AI Bill of Rights” package and explicitly called for protections against hyperscale AI/data-center impacts, including ratepayer cost-shifting and giving locals power to reject projects.
• Proposed/introduced legislation in 2026 (notably HB 1007, “Hyperscale Data Centers”) would prohibit hyperscale data centers in certain land-use categories including agricultural zoning districts (among other restrictions), plus add approval steps and water-use disclosures.

That’s why coverage frames it as DeSantis “blocking” or “threatening” the St. Lucie project: if a bill like HB 1007 became law as written, a mega-campus proposed on AG land would face a much harder path (or be outright barred).

If it’s “scrapped,” are there alternative plans?

As of the latest reporting available in what I could access, it’s more accurate to say:

• Not approved + on hold / being reworked, rather than officially “scrapped.”

Confirmed “next step” behavior that’s been reported:

• The developer is exploring refinements and doing outreach.

Realistic alternative paths (these are possibilities, not confirmed decisions):

1. Shrink / phase the project (less land, fewer buildings, different layout) to reduce community impacts and fit new rules.
2. Move it to non-ag land (industrial/utility-adjacent areas already planned for heavy infrastructure), if state law ends up restricting agricultural siting.
3. Wait out the legislative session and resubmit once statewide rules are clear (several local officials have said projects are effectively paused while Tallahassee debates the framework).

I can match precisely to: (a) which bill or state action was referenced, (b) what stage the St. Lucie proposal is in right now, and (c) whether there’s any named alternative site/plan on record.