Hillsboro City Council considers pausing data center development

The Hillsboro City Council held a meeting on Tuesday where city leaders began considering a temporary pause on new data center developments. This discussion was prompted by resident criticism last week regarding tax breaks for data centers.

Councilors have asked city staff to investigate what a temporary halt on new data centers would entail. This initiative comes while a state-level moratorium is already in effect, preventing data center tax breaks for the next year. The proposed city-level moratorium is intended to provide time for the city to develop a comprehensive development code. City leaders emphasized that any moratorium would be coupled with efforts to create a long-term solution for managing future growth, as required.

Both the potential city moratorium and the development code efforts aim to temporarily pause data center projects. Currently, there is no set timeline for when city staff will present their findings and options back to the council for further consideration.