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Council staff says County Executive can issue short-term pause; council declines moratorium motion
Summary
Council staff told the committee the County Executive has authority to impose a short-term pause on permitting; a council motion to pause data-center permitting during task-force work did not receive a second and was not adopted.
During the work session, council staff reviewed legal options for pausing data-center permitting. McCartney Green told committee members that the County Executive could use executive authority over permitting services to impose a short-term temporary pause, whereas a longer moratorium with the full force of law is best enacted through council legislation.
Chair Evan Glass asked for a motion to pause permitting while the task force would have worked; no member seconded the proposal and the committee moved on. Several members said a short-term pause raised significant legal and procedural questions and that a moratorium of longer duration should be brought up as a separate bill with its own public hearing.
The committee therefore adopted no pause or moratorium in this session; the matter remains a legal and policy option that would require further action to implement.
