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Rio Blanco commissioners adopt six‑month moratorium on new data‑center permit applications
Summary
The Rio Blanco County Board of Commissioners adopted Resolution 20 26‑21 imposing a temporary moratorium (effective on passage) on acceptance and processing of land‑use change permit applications for data‑center projects to allow the county time to draft land‑use rules and refer the proposal to planning and referral agencies.
The Board of County Commissioners of Rio Blanco County on the motion of a commissioner adopted Resolution 20 26‑21, a temporary moratorium on acceptance and processing of land‑use change permit applications for data‑center projects in the unincorporated county. The chair read the resolution into the record and the board voted to adopt it; the moratorium as read will be effective immediately upon passage and is written to expire in six months unless terminated earlier or extended.
County attorney Tim Foster told the board the moratorium is intended as a "time out" to allow commissioners to consider policy and criteria before accepting applications: "for 6 months, you would not be accepting any applications," he said. During public comment several speakers urged the commissioners to carve out exceptions for small, low‑impact sites. Jonah Bollinger, Town Manager of Rangely, said data centers can be a major economic driver and urged a shorter moratorium: "I would like to see this moratorium even condensed down to, say, 2 months." Chris Reitinger, engineering manager at White River Electric, asked the board not to "paint all data centers with a broad brush" and described inquiries about "small modular sites" that would use relatively low power and no water.
Commissioners and staff discussed the drafting timeline: staff advised two planning‑commission public meetings (Rangely and Meeker), a 21‑day referral review by agencies (including the Division of Water Resources and local utilities), and noted that preparing and considering rule changes could take several months; one staff estimate indicated a full process could be about a year if rules must be written from scratch. The board recorded the motion to adopt the resolution and the roll call vote in favor. Next steps include drafting proposed amendments to the Land Use Regulations, public hearings before the planning commission, referral agency review, and a return to the commissioners for final action.
