Missoula County Weighs Data Center Rules As Residents Push For Local Control
Missoula County residents are urging officials to adopt rules governing data centers, citing concerns about their potential impacts even though no active project is proposed. County planners have drafted zoning regulations while a one-year data center moratorium remains in effect, with review and a commissioners’ hearing scheduled for November.
Missoula County residents expressed continued concern about data center development during a county question-and-answer session on the first draft of new zoning regulations. Speakers urged officials to establish parameters that would make developers cover potential impacts and ensure the community receives benefits, while others suggested the county could consider developing or owning a data center itself.
County Climate Action Program Manager Svien Newman said planners have focused on regulatory options applicable to local governments rather than comparing state approaches. The Consolidated Planning Board is scheduled to review the findings Nov. 4, followed by a county commissioners’ hearing Nov. 12. The county’s one-year moratorium on data centers, enacted the previous July, remains in effect as officials consider next steps.