The other public hearing that was scheduled for the Board meeting was about data centers, or high utility use developments. The Board voted to impose a one year moratorium on applications.
Data centers need to be defined and conditions need to be drafted and reviewed to control possible negative effects.
Assistant County Attorney Jeffrey Fuge explained the moratorium is not hand-cuffed to being one year in length, and at any time the county planning commission arrives at a well-worded ordinance it wishes to recommend, the commissioners can convene a public hearing.
The county planning commission will take the lead on writing ordinance language that will specifically address high utility use projects. This effort addresses only the areas of the county where the county has zoning jurisdiction.
(Draft Moratorium Ordinance on Data Centers Rev Draft 2026-07-09.)