Sedgwick County staff recommends extending interim controls on data center zoning; commissioners debate shorter timeline

County planning staff recommended extending an interim control on data center zoning and brought a draft schedule that would carry the moratorium into late February, prompting commissioners to debate whether the county should move faster.

"The recommendation that's in the staff report is to extend it to February 25," Planning Director Scott said, describing prior interim-control actions (initial Jan. 14 start; extensions March 4 and May 6) and a proposed series of Advanced Plans committee meetings followed by MAPC and BOCC review. Scott told commissioners that extending to Feb. 25 builds in a cushion for public hearings and potential deferrals.

Several commissioners pressed staff for a shorter timeline and for earlier BOCC access to draft regulations. "The 1st moratorium was 60 days. We added 60 days to that. We had 120 days. Now we're talking about 180 days," one commissioner said, urging a return to a 120-day window and a commitment to move forward sooner if feasible.

Staff described options for joint meetings with Advanced Plans and stakeholder groups, and said draft regulations would be released to Advanced Plans in September and could be shared with the BOCC as soon as the draft is public. Commissioners discussed arranging facilitated "redline" sessions that would bring industry experts and community advocates together to review the draft and offer recommendations ahead of MAPC and BOCC hearings.

Scott cautioned that some scheduling variables are outside county control — notably MAPC decisions and public-notice deadlines — and that shifting MAPC dates could affect the BOCC schedule. Commissioners discussed targeting Dec. 16 as an earlier adoption goal or keeping a Feb. 25 cushion; staff said the effective end of a moratorium would be published one week and one day after a BOCC decision, which affects when a change would take effect.

No formal motion or vote on an extension appears in the transcript of this agenda-review session; staff framed the Feb. 25 date as the recommendation in the staff report and requested direction on the preferred timeline.