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Clinton council adopts 120‑day moratorium while drafting data‑center ordinance amid resident concerns
Summary
After hours of public comment, the council voted unanimously to impose a 120‑day moratorium (or until a city ordinance is adopted) on data-center permits and development approvals; residents raised concerns about water use, transparency, grid impacts, zoning and emergency response, and QTS submitted an early statement pledging closed-loop systems and local investment.
The Clinton City committee of the whole voted to place a 120‑day moratorium (or until the council adopts a data‑center zoning ordinance) on activity authorizing new data-center development while staff and a council work group draft detailed permitting rules.
A statement from QTS Data Centers—read into the record by a city staff member—said the company is "exploring plans for a potential data center campus in Clinton," described a proposed closed-loop cooling design intended to avoid water consumption during operation, and said the campus would represent a "multi‑billion dollar investment" with construction jobs and longer‑term positions if approved. The statement also said QTS planned to submit a proposed site plan to the city council in June and pledged to fund energy costs so local utility rates would not increase.
Council member Janet Turpin, who led the item, said she has researched data centers and urged protections for the community, including either a moratorium or a local ordinance that would set specific criteria for siting, water use, decommissioning and public‑safety coordination. Turpin and other council members referenced recent county experience and templates for data‑center ordinances and recommended the city rely on technical counsel, emergency‑management staff and county templates as it drafts local rules.
More than a dozen residents who live near the proposed site urged the council to pause the process. Speakers repeatedly raised the following concerns: claims that QTS projects in other states used or misreported large volumes of groundwater during construction, the possible strain on local electrical infrastructure and worries about power outages, risks associated with on‑site battery systems and hazardous materials, potential decreases in neighboring property values, and an overall lack of transparency about land purchases and project details. Resident Celeste cited media coverage and county statements alleging unauthorized groundwater withdrawals at a different QTS project and urged the city to adopt ordinances with enforcement teeth.
County officials and staff present urged using the county ordinance as a template and offered legal and technical resources. Planning staff and council members clarified that much of the area under discussion is zoned M3 heavy industrial and that a data center could be allowed under current zoning absent a special‑use framework; that complexity was central to the council’s decision to seek a tailored ordinance.
Council members then considered a motion to place a moratorium on the next regular council agenda. The motion was amended to specify a 120‑day moratorium or until the council adopts a data‑center zoning ordinance; the amended motion passed unanimously on roll call (Celely, Dutter, Turpin, Winter, Karns, Lee, Oren recorded yes). The moratorium will be on the next council agenda and will take effect according to the council’s procedural timeline, providing staff and the city’s ordinance work group time to prepare a draft for the city’s zoning board and council review.
The council asked staff to coordinate with county counsel and emergency management, to assemble technical studies on water and electrical impacts, and to present a draft ordinance for zoning‑board consideration in the coming weeks. The moratorium may be ended earlier if the council passes a zoning amendment addressing data‑center siting and permitting.
