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Monument adopts six-month moratorium on data-center permit reviews
Summary
The council approved Ordinance 18-2026, a six-month moratorium on accepting or processing permit and land-development applications that include data centers, to allow staff to update Chapter 18 of the land development code. Council vote: 6–0.
The Monument Town Council voted unanimously on July 20 to adopt Ordinance 18-2026, enacting a six-month moratorium on accepting or processing permit applications or land-development applications that propose a data center as a principal or accessory use.
Planning Director Dan Ungerleider presented the ordinance, saying staff proposed the moratorium as a proactive measure to examine the impacts of data centers on utilities, resources and local land use. "We've been discussing, and reviewing data centers for quite a bit... we wanted to come back to you, as directed, with a proposed ordinance, placing a moratorium on the review, or acceptance of applications and the review of applications for, for data centers," Ungerleider said.
Ungerleider told council there are currently no formal applications in Monument; the moratorium is intended to buy time for staff to finish a Chapter 18 update to the Monument Municipal Code and to recommend targeted code changes. Council members asked about the moratorium's definition and scope; Ungerleider said staff would use a blanket definition for now and return with size or other attribute thresholds as needed. The ordinance passed on a 6–0 vote.
Council members framed the moratorium as a cautious step. One member said they had "a hard time seeing the benefit for Monument" from data centers and supported highly regulating (or potentially prohibiting) them pending the code update. Staff will return with recommended code language within the six-month period.
