Kootenai County staff seek temporary moratorium on data centers to study zoning and water impacts

Kootenai County Community Development Director David Callahan asked county commissioners on Feb. 13 to direct staff to draft a countywide moratorium on data centers so planners can study whether the county’s zoning and permitting rules should require additional review.

Callahan told Commissioners Eberline, Duncan and Metari that the county’s current code “allows a data center by right, meaning there's no additional review other than a building permit.” He said that concern, combined with developers’ recent interest in building large facilities, prompted his request for temporary authority to pause new approvals while staff drafts possible regulations.

Callahan described the potential scale and resource use of the facilities that prompted his request. He said data centers can range from about 1,000,000 to 5,000,000 square feet, and use “anywhere from a half million to 5,000,000 gallons of water a day.” He added that a 1,000,000-square-foot data center could consume “enough electricity to power an average of 1,800 homes” for a day. “I would like the opportunity of a moratorium so that the staff and I and Pat could work on considering a conditional use permit for these kinds of uses so that we can get ahead of them rather than be behind the 8 ball and protect our aquifer,” Callahan said.

Callahan noted that the county’s light industrial and industrial zoning districts currently allow data centers, and that the Planning Department had received a zone-change application for property adjacent to light industrial that would facilitate a data-center use. Planning staff told the board the application is not complete and fees had not been paid. Callahan also said staff had met with developers who volunteered they intended to build a data center at the site. The director warned that heavy water use crossing state lines could raise the possibility of federal involvement.

Commissioners did not take a formal roll-call vote on a moratorium at the Feb. 13 meeting. Commissioner Duncan asked about the length of a moratorium; staff said state law permits up to six months (182 days) and that the board could set notice and timing within open-meetings requirements. Commissioners directed staff to prepare draft moratorium language and return it for consideration at a future meeting. Callahan suggested placing the item on the Feb. 27 agenda so affected neighbors could be notified and attend.

Separately, the board approved removing and rescheduling agenda item 2 to Feb. 27 so neighbors could be notified; staff said the item will be brought back on that date.

The Feb. 13 meeting lasted about six minutes; the discussion on data centers was an initial policy-direction request rather than a final action. Staff will return with draft moratorium language and any proposed ordinance or conditional-use permit requirements for commissioners to consider.