Residents urge one‑year moratorium on new data centers; commissioners outline planning process

Several residents asked the Jefferson County commissioners to consider a temporary one‑year moratorium on new data center development to allow planners to study land‑use impacts, update the unified development ordinance and adopt specialized zoning and utility provisions.

A public commenter who read a submitted letter urged the pause to allow the planning commission and county to establish ‘‘specialized zoning overlays, verified utility capacity guarantees, and built‑in guarantees of tax payments and employment numbers’’ before further approvals. Other speakers raised concerns about water use, electrical load, low‑frequency noise, light pollution and the long‑term environmental impacts of large hyperscale data centers.

Commissioners described the procedural options: a moratorium may be initiated either by the planning commission (which would hold a public hearing and make a recommendation) or by the commissioners themselves. Commissioners said an engineering review and building‑permit process follow the development plan and that developer identities typically appear with building‑permit filings. They emphasized that engineering review and planning procedures will be used if a concrete permit or building application arrives.