Shawnee County commissioners adopt temporary moratorium on final action for new data-center applications

Shawnee County commissioners voted to temporarily block final action on any new data‑center applications until Feb. 17, 2027, saying the pause will give staff, experts and the public more time to evaluate complex applications.

“I'm asking that we adopt a resolution for transparency that we, as the board of county commissioners, not take any final action on any data center, applications, until 02/17/2027,” Commissioner Kevin Cook said when he introduced the draft resolution. Cook said the moratorium is intended to prevent sudden approvals and to make clear the public will have time to review proposals and engineering reports.

Supporters of the moratorium — many of them residents who said they live within miles of the proposed Compass/Monterra site — urged the board to allow independent environmental and health studies and to require clearer utility‑cost and emergency‑response plans. “We need your protection,” said Amy Gillette, who said she represents dozens of nearby landowners.

Opponents on the board argued the process already provides safeguards and worried a moratorium could tie the commissioners' hands if an urgent decision were needed before the cutoff. “I am opposed to this resolution personally,” Commissioner Bill Rippon said, adding later that much of the review schedule will be driven by when the applicant supplements an incomplete filing.

Planning staff told the board the earliest the planning commission could hear a supplemented application is November if the applicant files by the Aug. 28 monthly deadline, with a likely county decision occurring in February. The resolution passed on a 2‑0 vote (Commissioners Kevin Cook and Aaron Mays in favor; Commissioner Bill Rippon opposed). The moratorium, as adopted, does not prevent applicants from submitting applications or planning‑office review; it merely prevents the board from taking a final approval action before the specified date.

The board also directed staff to pursue independent engineering support and to continue public outreach; the planning office said it will seek a larger venue for any future hearings and that the county's request for engineering proposals is intended to address outstanding questions about water, stormwater and noise mitigation.