Council member to present 12-month data-center moratorium draft at July 28 special meeting

Council member Adal said Tuesday he will present a draft moratorium on certain data-center operations at a special meeting set for July 28, 2026, at 5 p.m., to give the city time to consider zoning changes.

"My plan is to present it to you, at the July 28 special meeting," Adal said, asking the council to include both the proposed zoning ordinance and the moratorium for review. He said the moratorium is intended to be temporary — "12 months at the longest, but it could be shorter" if the council adopts appropriate zoning sooner.

Council member Mast, who moved the earlier moratorium motion referenced in the discussion, said the draft is meant to capture a range of contemporary uses that officials are seeing, including "crypto farming and crypto mining, tech storage," and other operations that function as data centers.

Adal said he had reviewed the recent council recording after missing the prior meeting and wanted to produce a "decent draft" that addresses zoning definitions and legal durability: "The more specifically we would define it, I think the better the chance it would have if there were ever an appeal or any kind of challenge."

Council members and staff agreed the special meeting agenda can include legislation that pertains to the zoning issues motivating the moratorium. No formal moratorium ordinance was adopted at Tuesday's meeting; Adal said he intends to bring proposed legislative language for council review on July 28.

The chair told members to watch their email for meeting materials; no vote or final action on the moratorium occurred at the July 14 meeting.