Planners begin data center rule-making

DAVENPORT — The Lincoln County Planning Commission scheduled a 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, workshop on expected data center rules.

Chairwoman Sue Lani Madsen said the commission will collect concerns and recommend changes to the zoning code.

Planning commissioners started their rule-making process Monday, Oct. 12.

With a moratorium in place on data centers, no companies have sought a related permit, yet.

Madsen said the county is trying to get ahead of any applications, not react to them.

“We’re just trying to collect what people are concerned about and eventually come up with recommendations to get changes to the zoning code,” Madsen said.

Paula Husky, who said she used to live in the county and now lives in Westbrook, Ind., told the board she had also spoken at the Monday, Oct. 5, hearing.

She pointed to a Spokane County draft ordinance and a 46-page presentation of residents' concerns, noting Lincoln County should start from rules written in other jurisdictions.

She suggested a detailed environmental study before ground breaking and a study of wells within 2 miles should be paid for by the developer.

She said the ordinance should not use soft language such as “should” or “whenever possible.”

“Mine will not matter to these developers,” she said.

She asked for water use set by state law, constant monitoring, electrical infrastructure and sound work at the developer’s expense, a decommissioning plan, and firm rules ground water contamination.

Madsen said data centers started the conversation, but the larger question is large industrial growth.

She pointed to sheets on the wall from an earlier talk on residential growth.

Residents had listed community connection, space, open skies and freedom as values, and traffic, scarce water, lost property values and a loss of community cohesiveness as concerns.

“We’ve sort of been telling ourselves for years, whatever happens,” she said.

During Monday's meeting, architect Angela Bishop listed houses next to farmland, senior and junior water rights, and subdivisions with only one way in and out.

She also asked to research power.

“It feels very duplicitous,” Bishop said. “These data centers are playing by a different set of rules.”

Moratorium

Lincoln County Commissioner Rob Coffman said the six-month moratorium can be extended another six months.

The moratorium on data centers came after a National Association of Counties conference presentation, where data centers were on the agenda.

Someone had already been asking questions of the county, he said, adding the Economic Development Council was not out looking for a data center, as far as he knows.

“We felt it was better to have something in place prior to somebody showing up and filing an application,” Coffman said.

County commissioners will not sign a nondisclosure agreement, should a data center developer come calling, he said.

Madsen said she foresees a need to extend the moratorium because the detailed work will come after the Legislature adjourns.

Location

The board cannot pick a parcel for a project, members said. That would favor one landowner.

“If you want to build in this county, you’re gonna have to fit in this box,” Madsen said.

Most of the county is zoned agricultural, and data centers will not be permitted in some zoning areas.

The zoning work is tied to the county’s periodic update of development regulations.

Planning commissioners are looking to allow data centers only in remote areas.

Closed-loop cooling came up as a possible requirement.

Fred Fleming has offered to look at Quincy for tax impacts.

Commissioners cautioned that Quincy is already a heavy industrial town.

Coffman said Avista’s Michele McCollum called after the moratorium.

Avista has put new large energy users on hold, he said.

Avista and Inland Power have both said they will not add high-use customers that do not have a net community benefit. He said 12% of a recent Avista rate increase was tied to the state’s net-zero requirements.

Taxes

On taxes, Coffman said industrial wind projects were taxed as personal property, and as that property depreciated the burden shifted to other taxpayers. Counties got that changed last session.

He said counties are looking at something similar for data centers.