Clinton County commissioners approved a 12-month moratorium on data centers Tuesday as officials work to update the county zoning ordinance.
- Clinton County commissioners approved a 12-month moratorium on data center projects
- The pause gives officials time to add specific data center regulations to the county zoning ordinance
- The proactive measure impacts 10 townships and is not in response to a specific development proposal
WATCH: Clinton County approves a 12-month moratorium on data centers
The pause means the county cannot approve any data center projects for the next year. Currently, there are no specific data center regulations included in the county zoning ordinance.
"This is not a reaction to any potential development. This is a proactive attempt to be prepared should such a development be proposed in the future," John Fuentes said.
Fuentes, the Clinton County administrator, noted the moratorium does not apply everywhere in the county.
"It’s not a county wide moratorium. It only effects or impacts the jurisdiction subject to county zoning. That’s currently 10 of the townships in the county," Fuentes said.
St. Johns neighbor Jim Lawless attended the meeting Tuesday. As a recently retired construction electrician, he recognizes the jobs a data center can bring to a community but agrees there should be rules in place.
"I support data centers in general, they are good work. But I also support the moratorium for Clinton County for now,"Lawless said. "We need some guidelines, we need regulation for these data centers coming into the area."
The moratorium will remain in place for up to 12 months, or until the county’s zoning ordinance is amended.
"It certainly needed to be updated or evaluated to address what we are now seeing or viewing as data center developments," Fuentes said.
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