Stark County planning staff told the Planning and Zoning Commission on July 31 that county planners will join a statewide effort to develop a model ordinance for data centers and will bring three proposed zoning-code amendments and a proposed amendment to the county floodplain ordinance back to the commission for public hearings.

The work is being coordinated with the North Dakota Association of Counties and the North Dakota League of Cities; city and county planners will begin the drafting process on a conference call the day after the meeting, staff said. County planner Steve Josephson told commissioners, “One of the things that we had talked about was an ordinance for data centers,” and said staff and city planners would participate in developing a model ordinance.

Josephson outlined three proposed zoning-code amendments for future review: new requirements for banquet halls and reception halls (a draft was provided to commissioners), removal of hard dates from section 8.10 (the enforcement section) after commissioner feedback, and an amendment to the county floodplain management ordinance (3.11) to reflect changes in the North Dakota Century Code that clarify township options for floodplain management and allow a county-adopted floodplain ordinance to extend to a city’s extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction.

Josephson said the Department of Water Resources — the state agency that oversees the National Flood Insurance Program — issued a letter that did not align with the statute’s language. He said State’s Attorney Engelstad plans to discuss the matter with the attorney general’s office to clarify how the county should interpret the new statute. “I believe the language I’m proposing will … mirror what’s in the statute,” Josephson said.

Staff told commissioners they will present the draft amendments to the commission for review and a public hearing; depending on application submissions and scheduling, the next P&Z meeting may be skipped (no August meeting) and these items could be scheduled for September.

The items are currently at the drafting and review stage; no formal county-code changes were adopted by the Planning and Zoning Commission at the July 31 meeting. Commissioners were given drafts and invited to review them prior to a future public hearing.