Otoe County commissioners pass moratorium, data center or not
Otoe County commissioners have passed a one-year moratorium on data centers and established a committee to update the county's comprehensive development plan, which currently lacks provisions for data centers on its land use map. The move aims to address public concerns regarding data center impacts, including noise and environmental effects, and to potentially introduce new zoning regulations and setbacks. Public hearings will be conducted to gather community input on future data center development within the county.
Otoe County commissioners in Nebraska have enacted a one-year moratorium on data center development, following a meeting where Board Chairman Jerad Sornson also formed a review committee to update the county's decade-old comprehensive development plan. The current plan defines data centers but does not include them on its land use map, prompting the need for updated regulations.
The scope of the review committee will also encompass power plants, as data centers are increasingly required to have adjacent power infrastructure. Commissioner Chuck Cole and Commissioner Dan Crownover discussed previous changes to zoning regulations that effectively halted commercial wind projects and cooled interest in commercial solar, citing setback requirements that made development unworkable.
Public sentiment regarding data centers appears divided, with individuals like Jeff Parker of Nebraska City advocating for specific planning and zoning policies, including a potential two-mile setback for data centers due to their size. Wynee Benedict, also of Nebraska City, raised concerns about low-frequency acoustic waves, or "infrasound," linked to data center cooling systems and generators, suggesting harmful physiological effects on humans and referring to it as "the death hum."
Commissioners Sornson and Parsons noted that the county has not yet been selected as a site for any data center projects, emphasizing that the moratorium is a proactive step to review regulations. Numerous public hearings are anticipated to gauge community preferences, as Sornson characterized public opinion on data centers as currently split 50/50.