Six-month moratorium approved for new data center applications in Shawnee County
Shawnee County Commissioners have approved a six-month moratorium on new data center applications, effective until February of next year. The vote was 2-1, with Commissioner Bill Rippon dissenting. While new applications are halted, a pending application from Compass Datacenters will continue through the review process, but commissioners will not take final action on it during the moratorium.
Shawnee County Commissioners have enacted a six-month moratorium on new data center applications, effective immediately and lasting until February of next year. The decision, approved during a meeting on Thursday morning, means the county will not accept or process any new applications for data centers during this period.
The vote was 2-1, with Commissioner Bill Rippon casting the sole dissenting vote. Rippon expressed his reservations about moratoriums, noting the lengthy process involved in development and suggesting that a time stamp on such actions was unnecessary, even while acknowledging the review process can take well over six months.
Crucially, the approved moratorium will not impede the ongoing review process for a pending application from Compass Datacenters. However, commissioners have reached an agreement that no final action will be taken on the Compass Datacenters project while the moratorium remains in effect.