Reporter asks what the data center moratorium actually stops; supervisors cite permit language and two-mile zoning

During public input a Hawkeye newspaper reporter asked the board to clarify the recent datacenter moratorium the supervisors approved last week, questioning what the moratorium accomplishes if the county has no formal permitting process for data centers.

"What is this moratorium going to accomplish if there's no process to begin with?" Tracy Lamb asked, seeking to understand whether the moratorium could stop activity in the absence of a permit pathway.

A supervisor replied that the moratorium's language was drafted to prevent permits from being issued and that it also addresses construction or development beyond permitting. Jared Lassiter, Land Use, added that the county's two-mile zoning area around Burlington provides an existing regulatory framework that could bring proposals within review. "There is the two-mile zoning area around Burlington…if something were proposed within that two-mile area…you could argue there that if somebody wanted to file a permit for that, it would fall under that umbrella," Lassiter said.

Board members offered to review the moratorium language with the reporter after the meeting and to provide the most recent version of the ordinance for public inspection.