Woodbury Proposes Data Center Moratorium Ahead Of Sept. 23 Council Meeting
Woodbury, Minnesota is considering a proposed interim ordinance to enact a one-year moratorium on new data centers and expansions. The City Council is scheduled to vote on the proposal on September 23. This pause would allow city staff and the Planning Commission to study how to regulate these facilities, which are noted as significant users of public infrastructure like water.
The city of Woodbury, Minnesota, is deliberating an interim ordinance that would impose a moratorium of up to one year on new data center developments and expansions. The Woodbury City Council is slated to review this proposal on September 23.
The draft ordinance cites increasing developer interest in Minnesota and nationally, driven by the growth of artificial intelligence and cloud computing. It highlights data centers as substantial consumers of public infrastructure, including municipal water, and notes that Woodbury's current zoning rules do not specifically address these facilities or other large infrastructure users. The proposal aligns with the city's commitments to conservation and ensuring adequate infrastructure for its existing and future residents and businesses.
If approved, the moratorium would prevent the city from accepting, processing, or approving applications for data center establishment or expansion. It would also block building permits for covered uses and withhold approval of rezoning requests, comprehensive plan amendments, conditional use permits, and variances related to data centers. During this period, city staff and the Planning Commission would conduct studies on local impacts, best practices, and regulations from other communities before recommending amendments to Woodbury's zoning ordinance.
The proposal defines data centers as facilities primarily used for storing, managing, processing, or transmitting digital data, excluding computing facilities that merely support another primary use. The draft does not specify a usage threshold for water or sanitary sewer services that would trigger the restrictions, nor does it address how existing operations or pending applications would be handled. Woodbury currently hosts two data centers operated by IronGate: Twin Cities East and Twin Cities West.