The first of three sessions to gauge community opinions regarding the Woodbury County moratorium on data centers will take place Monday evening
The Woodbury County zoning commission will hold three listening sessions, with the first one at 7 p.m. at the Sloan Community Hall in Sloan.
The county zoning commission is studying data centers, to give administrative support in 2027 to the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors on how to potentially proceed once the 12-month moratorium ends.
In June, the board of supervisors approved a one-year moratorium on data centers in unincorporated areas. The board said the moratorium is an important step, to give time for a fully vetted search into the pros and cons of data centers.
County Supervisor Matthew Ung last week told Siouxland Public Media News that he expects the meetings will be well attended. Security will be on hand, as people have been very passionate about the possibilities of data centers coming to the area.
Lots of counties in the three Siouxland states are passing moratoriums concerning the placement of data centers in their counties. Separately outside any county governance, the Salix City Council declined to place a moratorium on a possible data center in town.
Google, which has many data centers across the nation, announced in early August that the company is in the early stages of evaluating a Salix site for a data center.
The next two county sessions will be in Moville and Salix over the next two months. During the sessions, Zoning Commission officials will explain potential requirements, regulations, zoning districts, and application processes.
