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Sawyer County adopts preliminary data-center zoning language and discusses one-year moratorium
Summary
The zoning committee adopted an ordinance to limit data centers to Industrial 1 districts with a suggested 160-acre threshold, while several towns and residents urged a moratorium to study water, power and environmental impacts; committee members discussed a separate moratorium resolution to follow.
The Sawyer County Zoning Committee voted to adopt ordinance language that defines and confines data centers to Industrial 1 zone districts and sets an effective threshold intended to make large-scale data centers more difficult to site without rezoning.
Jay (zoning staff) said the changes were intended to close a gap in the code that uses a generic 'communications' conditional-use clause and could otherwise allow a large data center to be proposed under that language in agricultural zones. The proposed approach would limit data centers to Industrial 1 and, as a practical matter, require large contiguous acreage (staff suggested 160 acres as a working threshold) or a rezoning application.
Town responses in the preliminary polling were mixed: some towns asked for a moratorium and additional safeguards (water protections, environmental and noise assessments), while others approved the draft language but requested more restrictive setbacks or water-use protections. Public commenters raised concerns including groundwater and lake impacts, the potential for annexation to avoid county zoning, and the pace of the county’s review. Linda Zilmer urged a full-year moratorium and said the draft lacked enough detail to protect public health and welfare.
Rebecca, county legal counsel, advised the committee that the draft ordinance provides a defensible baseline and that adopting a tailored ordinance now would generally give the county more protection than waiting until a proposal arrived. She also said the committee could adopt a moratorium later if the committee decided to pursue additional studies; a moratorium requires separate legal justification and public notice.
After discussion the committee approved the ordinance language by roll call (3–1) and directed staff and legal counsel to develop language and a public-hearing schedule for a potential moratorium to be considered in a future meeting.
