As a proposed hyperscale data center and energy project continues to draw fierce opposition in Box Elder County, the county’s three commissioners hit the brakes on future data center development.
The commissioners unanimously passed an ordinance Wednesday that imposes a 180-day moratorium on new data centers and data center power plants on unincorporated land in Box Elder County.
The moratorium gives officials six months to study how data centers and the infrastructure that powers them should be regulated and whether additional zoning and development standards are needed. This includes whether future projects should be allowed in unincorporated areas of the county and if so, what regulations should govern them.
The pause, however, does not affect the Stratos Project, a proposed hyperscale data center campus backed by celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary that could span roughly 20,000 acres near the northern tip of the Great Salt Lake, according to county officials.
The commissioners last month approved an interlocal agreement that transferred land-use authority of the Stratos Project area to Utah’s Military Installation Development Authority for the next 50 years, meaning county zoning and land-use regulations will not apply there, according to the county.
County officials said the moratorium was prompted in part by recent discussions surrounding the Stratos Project.
The county’s current land-use codes do not contain specific zoning classifications or development standards for data centers or data center power plants, according to the release.
During public comment after Wednesday’s vote, several attendees said the temporary stay did little to settle their concerns about the massive project. Speaker after speaker bemoaned the commission’s original approval of the project, drawing cheers and applause from the crowd.
Box Elder County resident Shane Jenkins said he understood the commissioners were under pressure when they made the land-use decision.
“I know some of your family members, and so I’ve got kind of a third party explanation of what was put upon your gentlemen’s shoulders ... you guys were blindsided,” he said.
But voting for the lesser of two evils, he added, is “still voting for evil, gentlemen.”
“If this goes through and what the scientists say is accurate,” he said, “your descendants will curse you to the 10th generation. That’s all I have to say.”
Stephanie Mangum of Deweyville pointed to Monterey Park, California, which The Guardian reported recently became the first U.S. city to permanently ban data centers.
“If this place can do this, this can be done,” she said. “We can pass things like this, even if you do have the dark elites threatening you.”
Brigette Cottam from Brigham City told the commissioners that they were “condescending and outright disrespectful to the various people who voted” for them as they considered how to handle the Stratos Project.
“You broke public trust,” she said. “And now you are bringing up a moratorium on future data centers instead of before, when there could have been a chance to save this place?”
Not all speakers criticized the commissioners, though.
Jack Stickney, who lives in Tremonton, said he hopes the moratorium will allow scientific findings about data centers to take precedence over people’s perceptions of them.
People’s concerns “deserve to be heard,” he said. “It’s also important that we distinguish between perceived fear and actual reality.”
Dave Hougaard from Honeyville said that although he was opposed to the data center, he admired that the commissioners supported landowners’ rights to sell their property for the Stratos Project.
“You guys voted to let those people sell their property, which is your constitutional obligation,” he said. “So many people seem to not understand.”
The May decision has sparked backlash from residents concerned about the project’s potential effects on air quality, water resources and the already stressed Great Salt Lake ecosystem.
A group leading opposition to the project, Box Elder Accountability Referendum, or BEAR, had urged residents to weigh in during Wednesday’s meeting.
The group also helped circulate a poll conducted by the nonpartisan advocacy group Stewardship Utah, which surveyed more than 500 registered voters in Box Elder County and found that more than 70% of respondents oppose construction of the data center, according to results released Tuesday.
“Our goal has been simple from day one: to protect the constitutional right of Box Elder citizens to have a voice in their own future,” BEAR referendum co-sponsor Shannon Barton said in a news release. “This poll shows that our neighbors are with us — they want a vote.”
Box Elder County’s pause largely mirrors action taken in Iron County last month, where commissioners approved a 180-day pause on new and incomplete applications for data centers, data center power plants and utility-scale solar projects while county leaders study potential impacts and review local regulations.
After Box Elder County rejected two proposed referendums seeking to put the data center project before voters, BEAR filed a lawsuit last week in Utah’s 1st District Court appealing the county attorney’s decision.
Separately, five anonymous Box Elder County residents who are affiliated with BEAR joined Alliance for a Better Utah in a second lawsuit accusing government officials who approved the project of infringing on residents’ civil rights by not allowing a public vote.
