Deltona Holder Industrial Park (Citrus County) data center, Hernando, Florida

Deltona Corporation has withdrawn its plan to open the way for a data center at the Holder Industrial Park near Hernando in Citrus County, Florida, after residents packed hearing rooms against it. Deltona withdrew its applications for the Holder Industrial Park in a letter to the county on June 23, 2026. The request would have turned almost 800 more acres of agricultural and residential land into heavy industrial use, growing the park from about 557 acres to a little over 1,300, which could have allowed a data center. The July 14 hearing before the Board of County Commissioners was cancelled.

The withdrawal came a day after commissioners unanimously refused Deltona's request to put off a decision until November, and a week after the county's Planning & Development Commission unanimously recommended denial. The land lies between North Lecanto Highway, North Tram Road and North Florida Avenue, near U.S. 41, and Deltona is known mainly as a homebuilder. Joanna Coutu, the county's deputy growth manager, told the planning commission the area is low-density residential, rural residential and agricultural: "That's not where heavy industrial goes so definitely there are concerns about that."

Residents raised the effect on nearby homes and businesses, the county's water supply, the electrical grid and the area's long-term environmental health. "We don't want any industrial sites near our homes. We want to protect our environment, our resources and our health," Hernando resident Tracy Landry told the planning commission. A group called No Data Center Citrus organized the opposition with meeting alerts and public comment templates. Deltona's attorney, Clark Stillwell, argued that many of the concerns about noise, vibration and water were based on older data centers.

In May 2026 Citrus County commissioners imposed a one-year moratorium on data centers and on zoning changes that would enable them, and it remains in effect. Deltona's application had been filed before the moratorium, so it still had to be heard. "I think this is good news because now they are under the moratorium for data centers," Commissioner Holly Davis said, noting Deltona would have to start over to pursue a data center again. Elsewhere in the region, residents in Fort Meade in Polk County have launched a recall petition against three city officials over the approved Stonebridge data center.

On September 4, 2026, the county released draft data center regulations and began taking public comments for about 30 days. The draft would allow data centers only on land zoned for heavy industry and with special county approval, bar them from agricultural land, and keep them at least 1,000 feet from homes, parks, schools, libraries, daycares and hospitals. It would cap noise at 50 decibels at the property line, limit backup generators to emergencies and 40 hours a month, require cooling with reclaimed or recycled water, and make developers post 115 percent of the estimated cost of dismantling a facility. There are no pending data center applications in Citrus County, and after the comment period the rules go to public hearings before the Planning and Development Commission and, ultimately, the Citrus County Board of County Commissioners. Florida's new data center law, which took effect July 1, 2026, also governs how data centers are permitted, powered and financed.