Planning commission backs township-level moratorium approach for data centers

The Vernon County Planning Commission on an advisory basis agreed to pursue township-level temporary moratoria aimed at large data centers and asked staff to take a model ordinance to corporate counsel and to township boards for local adoption. Commissioners said a township approach would be easier to defend than a county-level moratorium, which would require showing a specific health or safety hazard.

Chair (speaking as the meeting chair) said the county draft must show a specific health or safety hazard if the commission pursued a county moratorium, making the township route preferable in the short term. Staff member Matt told the commission the moratorium model generally requires permits for any change in use and functions as a “temporary safeguard” to buy time to draft zoning standards and maps. "So it's a a temporary safeguard to allow you to put parameters behind all your zoning districts," Staff member (Matt) said during the discussion.

Ben Caldwell, who identified himself at the meeting as a Greenwood Township board member, urged the commission to push the draft ordinance to townships so they could act locally. "I have a strong sense that that should be our, direction," Caldwell said, speaking in support of the township-first approach. Commissioners asked staff to identify which townships have village powers, assemble mapping information, and return with adapted draft language and a plan for outreach.

Commission members discussed several specific provisions from the Town of Cassville model ordinance read at the meeting: the model bars changes in use during the moratorium unless a variance or permit is granted; defines "data center" and "large-scale data center"; precludes exceptions for large-scale data centers during the moratorium; and provides that the moratorium lapses on adoption of zoning or two years after the ordinance's effective date, whichever comes first. The commission did not adopt any ordinance at the meeting; instead it directed staff to consult corporate counsel, distribute the draft to townships, and report back.