Resident urges ordinance-first approach; county staff shows maps of 0.5-mile setbacks

Mike Walter, a resident of Old Davenport Road, urged the Board of Supervisors to prioritize protections in a data center ordinance rather than altering protections to accommodate projects. "Setback distances from each type of property must guarantee 0 negative effect from a data center on said property," he said during public comment.

Ben Cobert, Dubuque County zoning administrator, then presented four maps intended to show how the citizen-drafted setback proposals would apply across the county. Cobert described a 0.5-mile buffer from residentially zoned properties and additional layers including a 1,320-foot setback from county road center lines, 0.5-mile buffers from scenic byways (Highway 52 Great River Road), and 0.5-mile buffers from sinkholes, wetlands and streams. "So I think our goal in making some of these maps this time was looking at the proposed draft submitted by the data center accountability for the citizens of Dubuque group so that we could see how those would apply countywide," Cobert said.

Supervisors and staff debated measurement details (whether setbacks reference dwelling locations or property lines) and the maps’ practical effect. The Chair observed that under the strictest of the displayed layers "the only areas that would be buildable under those setbacks are the ones in white." County staff said maps are a visual aid and that the zoning commission and health board will need to collaborate to refine defensible setback distances before any draft advances.

The board did not take a formal vote on setbacks. Cobert said the zoning commission will review the draft at a special work session and the county will continue to treat the map set as a living document to be adjusted as the drafting process advances.