At a Glance
- The Indiantown Village Council voted 4-1 against pausing new large-scale data center applications
- The council then voted 3-2 to fire Village Manager Taryn Kryzda effective immediately
- A state law known as SB 180 is the reason the pause stalled, and a developer has already threatened to sue over it
The Indiantown Village Council did not pass a data center moratorium Tuesday night. It voted 4-1 against one, then fired the village manager later in the same meeting.
Posts circulating since have merged those two outcomes into a single narrative about a moratorium victory. The record shows something more complicated, and the reason the pause failed is worth understanding.
The Moratorium Failed on Legal Grounds
After hours of public comment at the Bob Souza Civic Center, the council voted 4-1 against a resolution that would have temporarily paused new large-scale data center applications while Indiantown drafted regulations covering infrastructure, utilities and community impacts.
Council members did not reject the idea of a pause. They said they wanted new legal counsel to review the language first, because that counsel would be the one defending it in court.
Village leaders told CBS12 News they expect interim counsel in place soon and hope to bring a revised resolution back within one to two weeks. No pause is in effect in the meantime.
Why the Legal Question Is Real
At the council’s August meeting, attorney Bob Raynes, representing data center applicant Silver Fox 606, told the council his client believed a moratorium would be improper and that the company intended to challenge it. He cited Senate Bill 180.
SB 180 is a 2025 hurricane recovery law. It bars local governments from adopting construction moratoriums or more restrictive land development regulations for a period after a storm. Because every Florida county fell under at least one federal disaster declaration in 2024, the restrictions apply statewide, retroactive to August 2024 and running through at least October 2027.
Then-Village Attorney Wade Vose raised the same concern, telling the council in August that any moratorium would be a land development regulation requiring public notice, hearings and review by the planning board.
Local governments across Florida have sued the state over SB 180, and more than a dozen have received letters from the Florida Department of Commerce declaring proposed development policies void under it. The question is unsettled.
A Second State Law Points the Other Way
Former Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback told council members that 19 moratoriums have passed in Florida this year without a legal challenge from a data center plaintiff.
He was pointing at Senate Bill 484, signed May 7, 2026, and effective July 1. That law explicitly states that local governments keep their authority over comprehensive planning and land development regulations for large load customers, including data centers. It also requires large users to pay their full electricity costs rather than shifting them to other ratepayers, and adds water permitting restrictions for large-scale facilities.
So Indiantown sits between two state laws. One appears to restrict moratoriums. The other appears to preserve local zoning authority over exactly this kind of project. Which one governs has not been resolved, and that is what the council’s new attorneys will have to answer.
What the Firings Did and Did Not Change
Shortly after the moratorium vote, the council voted 3-2 to terminate Village Manager Taryn Kryzda, who had served since 2024, effective immediately. Late that night, the council appointed Michael Giardino as interim village manager. Giardino recently served as Stuart’s city manager before the Stuart City Commission fired him last week.
View this post on Instagram
Village Attorney Wade Vose had already submitted his resignation before the meeting. The council voted to remove him from the remainder of the proceedings and pursue interim counsel.
Both positions are interim, allowing a full search for permanent hires.
What the firings did not do is undo prior approvals. On April 30, 2026, the previous council unanimously approved the Tesoro Groves planned unit development, a 5,722-acre rezoning of Florida Power & Light land near Southwest Kanner Highway that permits data processing uses. That property was annexed into the village from Martin County.
The Greater Indiantown Community Alliance sued to invalidate that approval in May. The case was dismissed with prejudice on July 2, meaning it cannot be refiled.
Where Things Stand
Silver Fox 606 withdrew its 2 million square foot proposal in April after community opposition, but its attorney appeared before the council in August as a current applicant, indicating the project is active again.
Residents at Tuesday’s meeting raised concerns about proximity to schools and neighborhoods. Resident Eric Miller said he was not opposed to data centers in the village, but was concerned about how close they might sit to the local elementary school and Booker Park.
Some attendees also objected to the meeting format, noting that developers received 10 minutes to speak while residents received three.
The council is expected to take up a revised resolution once interim counsel is seated. Until then, applications continue to move through the village’s process.
