South Hutchinson's data center moratorium is in effect, with a one-year clock running
Neighboring Hutchinson began drafting permanent zoning rules for large-scale data centers in June
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Sign up freeSouth Hutchinson has barred any data center or battery storage permit, application or tax incentive for one year, after the council adopted Ordinance 26-05 on a 4-0 vote Tuesday, May 26.
The same measure had been tabled at the council's Monday, May 11 meeting. Mayor Kyle Cokeley made the motion to adopt it, Councilmember Heather Gaines seconded and Councilmember Joshua Pettay was absent, the minutes show.
Under the ordinance, the moratorium took effect on publication on the city's website, which the ordinance designates as the official city newspaper. It runs one year from that date, putting it roughly three months into its term. The council may extend it by ordinance or end it early on a finding that adequate regulations have been adopted. The agenda packets do not record the publication date, and the ordinance's signature block is dated May 11 — the day the council tabled it — rather than the day of the vote.
Within the city limits and its extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction — the area outside city boundaries where South Hutchinson controls zoning — the ordinance prohibits the submission, acceptance, approval or issuance of any permit, application or land use approval for developing, constructing, installing, expanding or operating a data center or battery energy storage system. The latter is the industry term for installations that store electricity in batteries and discharge it later. Section 2(b) also bars the city from executing any development agreement, incentive agreement, tax abatement, industrial revenue bond or similar agreement tied to such a project while the moratorium is in force.
The ordinance's definition of a data center reaches hyperscale facilities, colocation facilities and cryptocurrency mining operations. Its findings state that without a temporary moratorium, "applications for data center and battery energy storage system development could be submitted and approved under the City's existing zoning regulations before appropriate standards and safeguards can be established."
The minutes list four residents and organization representatives who spoke on the proposed moratorium at the May 11 meeting, before the item was tabled: Ron Hirst, Katy Fallon of Greater Hutch, Kelly Willis and Erin Hodgson. City Administrator Jeff Schenk also spoke, but the minutes record no positions or remarks. At the May 26 meeting, Councilmember Valerie Griffin, Council President Matthew Elliott, Schenk and resident Erin Hodgson were recorded as speaking on the moratorium.
Section 4 of the ordinance directs the Planning Commission to review the city's existing zoning, research regulations adopted elsewhere, assess the potential effects of such facilities on electrical grid capacity, water resources, transportation and emergency services, hold public hearings and report its findings and recommended regulations to the council within the moratorium period.
The council packets posted on the city's website through June 8 show no Planning Commission findings, no scheduled public hearing on data center or battery storage rules and no target date for that report.
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