Woodland Park council expands data-center moratorium to 24 months in first reading

Woodland Park’s City Council on July 18 approved on first reading an amended temporary moratorium on the submission, acceptance, processing and approval of applications for data centers in the city.

The ordinance, introduced as Ordinance No. 1525, Series 2026, was presented by staff as a short-term pause on new data-center applications to allow the city time to develop regulations tailored to the scale and resource impacts of modern facilities. The original draft set a 12-month limit. During council discussion several members said 12 months may be insufficient to study the technical, infrastructure and regulatory questions. One council member framed the change as allowing “time to observe and figure out what we’re regulating before we propose some sort of structure.”

Council consulted the city attorney’s guidance about legal limits on moratoria, including that a moratorium must be reasonably related to the time required to develop a regulatory structure and cannot operate as a de facto permanent prohibition. After further discussion the council amended the duration to 24 months, with the understanding that the moratorium could be lifted sooner if regulations are drafted and adopted. The council then set a public hearing on the amended ordinance for a subsequent meeting and passed the first-reading motion unanimously.

Why it matters: data centers have expanded rapidly in recent years and can carry substantial demands for electricity, water and land use changes. The moratorium gives Woodland Park time to evaluate local impacts and prepare development standards rather than addressing applications case by case.

Next steps: the ordinance will return for at least one additional hearing before final adoption. If staff develops proposed regulations earlier than 24 months, council may lift or shorten the moratorium according to the timetable required for ordinance adoption.