Pima County narrowly passes 120-day data center moratorium

Pima County's Board of Supervisors has enacted a 120-day moratorium on new data center projects, with the vote passing 3-2. Supervisors Rex Scott and Steve Christy voted against the pause, which was put in place to address "imminent negative public health impacts" and allow the county to revise its zoning codes for more sustainable development.

The moratorium applies only to companies or developers who have not yet submitted permit applications for site improvements, exempting projects already in the permitting pipeline, such as the proposed eight-building "Project Gravel" near Sahuarita. This language change was made after legal counsel from Pima County Attorney Laura Conover. Reed Spurling of the No Desert Data Center Coalition praised the temporary moratorium but expressed a desire for a permanent ban on data centers.

Board Chair Jen Allen stated that the moratorium, combined with the recently released Data Center Public Health Review and ongoing code amendment process, forms "three legs of a stool" to ensure land use decisions consider public health, a statutorily defined role for the county. Supervisor Scott, however, opposed the moratorium due to undisclosed legal reasons and criticized the public health review for being too broad and lacking specific project evaluations. Supervisor Andrés Cano supported the pause, emphasizing the county's responsibility to protect natural resources, neighborhoods, and residents through clear development standards. The board also added provisions to revisit the moratorium for extension and directed the Health Department to continue collecting data and create a risk assessment.