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Surry County imposes temporary moratorium on data center applications to allow zoning rewrite
Summary
The Surry County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously May 18 to impose a temporary moratorium to give staff time to draft zoning text amendments that would establish procedures for data centers, after legal staff outlined notice and hearing requirements.
The Surry County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously May 18 to instruct county staff to impose a temporary moratorium on new data center applications while officials draft zoning text amendments to establish specific processes for the use.
Development Services Director Adrienne Gardner presented a recommendation to adopt a zoning text amendment addressing data centers as a specified land use. County Attorney Howard Jones reviewed the required process for a text amendment, including public notice and public hearings, and told the Board it could adopt a short-term moratorium while the code changes are drafted. Commissioners discussed options, including a 60-day moratorium.
Upon motion of Commissioner Melissa Hiatt, seconded by Commissioner Mark Marion, the Board voted unanimously to instruct the County Attorney and Development Services Director to proceed with a moratorium to allow time for text amendments and ordinance changes to include processes for data centers.
The action directs legal and planning staff to prepare the moratorium and associated code language and to follow the public-notice and hearing steps outlined by the county attorney. The Board did not set dates for hearings in the minutes; next procedural steps listed were staff preparation of the amendments and required hearings.
