Grand County adopts temporary moratorium on commercial data centers through June 24, 2027

Community Development Director Kris Manguso presented a proposed temporary moratorium on permitting commercial data center facilities in unincorporated Grand County and recommended aligning the expiration date with an existing renewable-energy moratorium on June 24, 2027. Manguso told the board staff lack specific zoning definitions or performance criteria to regulate high-density data center developments.

The board voted unanimously to adopt the moratorium to allow preparation of tailored rules, study decommissioning and bonding requirements used by other jurisdictions, and schedule public workshops. Director Manguso said staff had received inquiries from developers and cited examples elsewhere showing the large footprint and utility demands of some projects: "a single data center building can span up to 500 acres," a fact used to illustrate potential scale.

Public commenters offered mixed views. Jeremy Crohn of Grand Lake supported a dedicated workshop and praised the board for separating data center and solar reviews. Daniella Gosselova of Granby objected to admitting a Denver news article into the record and warned that a blanket moratorium could exclude compact or low-impact designs that might benefit local businesses.

Staff were directed to return with options for regulating data centers through either Special Use Permits or 1041 environmental regulations and to present decommissioning and bonding strategies drawn from other jurisdictions.