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A Jackson County legislator introduced a 120-day moratorium on data center land use applications to give lawmakers time to develop regulations for future projects in unincorporated areas.
While the pause does not apply to the Nebius data center in Independence, it would effectively halt any future data center applications in Jackson County.
Jackson County Legislator Sean Smith said the ordinance will likely be discussed in committee in the next couple of weeks. He noted officials are not aware of any pending data center applications in their jurisdiction, making it an ideal time to establish guidelines.
"It really does come down to the public is really concerned about some of these things, and I think this gives us time to just be thoughtful when we don’t have an application pending, when nobody’s upset and it’s not emotional," Smith said.
Smith said data centers are expanding into new areas, requiring updated county codes to dictate land use and developer requirements.
"It’s just logical and rational to try to identify what those concerns are and build them in as rules, so when people apply, they know what is acceptable, what’s not, what kind of questions they need to answer for us," Smith said.
Smith said the 120-day window gives staff time to draft regulations for county legislators to approve. He also expressed concerns about the Nebius facility's impact on a nearby county hiking and biking trail, suggesting the county should have input on projects affecting local investments.
"You’re going to take farmland that people peacefully cruise through right now and turn it into something very different," Smith said.
One proposed change would expand the notification radius for residents. Currently, regulations require notifying people within 250 feet of a proposed development. Smith wants to double that radius or set a minimum number of people to notify, especially in agricultural areas where homes are spread out.
"We don’t want something to happen and have the public be surprised and act like we tried to sweep it under the rug, because that’s not our intention," Smith said.
Smith emphasized the moratorium is not meant to prevent data center construction, which can have a positive economic impact, but to ensure projects are well thought out and transparent.
"It’s a good time to have just some thoughtful discourse and make sure we get it right," Smith said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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