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Seward County adopts 12-month moratorium on data center development
Summary
The Seward County Board of Commissioners on June 30 adopted Resolution No. 3937, imposing a temporary moratorium on data center construction, permits and conditional use approvals for up to 12 months while zoning regulations are drafted; no members of the public spoke for or against the moratorium at the hearing.
The Seward County Board of Commissioners voted June 30 to adopt Resolution No. 3937, imposing a temporary moratorium on data center development effective immediately for up to 12 months or until new zoning regulations addressing data centers are adopted.
The move, read into the record by Chairperson Misty Ahmic, follows the board’s finding that current county zoning regulations do not include provisions governing data centers. The resolution directs county staff to research impacts and proposed regulatory approaches and invites public input while the board works with legal and planning staff to draft an amendment to the Seward County Zoning Regulations.
The moratorium, as defined in the resolution, applies to commencement of construction, issuance of building permits, issuance of conditional use permits and any authorizations of projects intended to include data centers. The resolution defines “data center” to mean facilities that receive the majority of their income from compiling, storing and maintaining digital records, servers, cloud storage or similar systems; it excludes general business offices and certain computer-related sales or service establishments.
Chairperson Misty Ahmic read the resolution aloud and invited members of the public to speak for or against the moratorium; no attendees spoke during the hearing. The board adopted the resolution by a unanimous vote of the three members present (Scott Pekarek, Darrell Zabrocki and Ahmic).
The resolution cites the county’s authority to adopt zoning regulations under Neb. Rev. Stat. §23-114 and states the moratorium is intended to allow the county to evaluate potential impacts to natural resources, infrastructure and utilities and to align any regulations with the Seward County Comprehensive Plan. The moratorium will automatically expire after 12 months or on the effective date of newly adopted regulations governing data centers, whichever occurs first.
Next steps recorded in the minutes indicate county staff will review approaches used by other jurisdictions, solicit public input, research industry performance standards and return proposed zoning amendments to the board for formal consideration.
