Waite Park council adopts 12-month moratorium on data-center developments

Waite Park’s city council voted to impose a 12-month interim moratorium on uses associated with data centers to allow staff and elected officials time to study potential land-use, resource and community impacts.

A staff member told the council that while no formal data-center proposals have been submitted to the city, such projects are appearing more frequently in Minnesota and that existing ordinance language is not tailored to data-center uses. “I would be recommending the duration of 12 months, to allow staff time to engage, city council, myself and water resource specialist and other staff that may be involved,” the staff member said during the presentation.

The draft moratorium includes a specific exemption for a very small-scale fiber-optic switching shelter with no water use. The staff member said that exemption had been added recently to avoid inadvertently blocking such minor facilities.

A council member moved to approve the moratorium and, after a second, the council approved the interim ordinance. The motion passed without recorded opposition in the meeting record.

The staff presentation said the one-year pause will let the planning commission and council consider options, update ordinance language if needed and conduct required public hearings. The staff member also noted the council can lift the moratorium earlier if circumstances change.

The council’s adoption begins a process of review rather than a final decision on any specific project. The planning commission and staff are expected to return with recommendations and proposed ordinance language as next steps.