Kootenai County approves conditional rules for data centers, directs staff to draft outright ban

Kootenai County commissioners on Sept. 25 approved a conditional-use ordinance to govern data center development in the unincorporated county, adding a condition that facilities must not be located over the county aquifer and directing staff to draft an ordinance to consider an outright ban.

The move came after a four-hour public hearing that included more than two dozen citizens who opposed data centers citing water and power usage, noise, air quality and privacy concerns. Director of Community Development David Callahan told the board the county currently lacks specific requirements for data centers and said the conditional-use process ‘‘gives a very thorough vetting of proposals.’’

The ordinance enacted a conditional-use permit pathway so applications in affected zones would be reviewed against explicit criteria, referred to sister agencies for comment, and brought to public hearing before a decision. Commissioners voted 3-0 to approve ORA 25-0007 with the added condition that no permitted data center may be located over the aquifer, and they instructed staff to prepare a second ordinance that would propose an outright ban in unincorporated areas.

Why it matters: County staff and public speakers framed the question as a tradeoff between potential tax revenue and local impacts. Callahan provided a rough fiscal example saying…