City imposes 18-month moratorium on data-center permits to study impacts

The La Crosse City Council adopted an 18-month moratorium on issuing permits for data centers inside the city to give officials time to study possible environmental, land-use, economic and safety impacts and to coordinate with a county ad hoc team. Planning staff said the text was drafted by the city attorney and would run for 18 months but could end earlier if the city updated its zoning code to address data-center provisions. "It just allows us to... study possible impacts of these large data centers," staff said.

During the public hearing, resident Corey Husselberg said he supported pausing permit approvals while the city studies the issue: "I’m just here to speak in support of the temporary moratorium on data centers." The council moved, seconded and adopted the moratorium by voice vote. Staff said any change to the moratorium could occur sooner if they update the zoning code to provide a targeted regulatory framework.