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The Saco City Council voted Monday night to extend the city’s data center moratorium for another 60 days.

The temporary ban was originally enacted for 61 days in August. With the extension, it is now set to expire Nov. 28.

The moratorium is designed to give city staff time to update the city code to include rules for data centers.

According to the language of the moratorium, the current city code doesn’t adequately protect the public, abutters, utility ratepayers and the environment from possible adverse effects of data centers, including noise, heat and emissions. City Administrator Ryan Pelletier said that without clear standards, the city risks leaving residents vulnerable.

“There are just so many unknowns,” Pelletier said. “It’s great to have the ability to hit pause.”

It’s also unclear if residents would support a data center in Saco, he added.

“It’s just like any other large-scale development,” Pelletier said. “Some people will see the financial benefit, and some people will have issues with it.”

During the moratorium period, city staff are working to determine whether data centers could be built in Saco without adverse impacts. The city is also studying whether data centers would overburden local water supply, roads, waste management systems and other infrastructure.

Mayor Jodi MacPhail said the moratorium is important to ensuring that the city takes a responsible, informed approach to large-scale data centers.

The city is waiting to see the state’s lead on data centers, Pelletier said. Once the Maine Data Center Advisory Task Force — which is responsible for reviewing how the state should handle them — presents their report in December, Saco will have a better idea of how to move forward.

Until then, the city will likely continue to extend the moratorium to keep any potential data centers out of Saco, Pelletier said.

Other towns across the state have also moved to press pause on data center development, including neighboring Biddeford.

After Gov. Janet Mills vetoed a bill in April that would have temporarily banned data center development statewide, several municipalities began to consider their own restrictions.

Some, like Sanford and Scarborough, approved moratoriums to stop existing data center projects. Others, like Westbrook and Brunswick, have taken proactive steps to prevent potential proposals.

Earlier this month, Biddeford’s planning board moved to ban new data center development, and to block any current facilities from expanding, by unanimously recommending the city write a ban on data centers into an existing ordinance on land use. That recommendation is awaiting City Council approval.