PASCO, Wash. — Pasco City Council is set to consider a six-month moratorium on new data center-related permits and business licenses at its July 20 regular meeting.
If approved, the ordinance would pause the acceptance and processing of applications tied to new data centers, cryptocurrency mining facilities, blockchain computing facilities, artificial intelligence computing facilities and other high-density computing facilities.
Pasco currently allows data centers by right in its I-2 and I-3 zones, according to the city. Those projects follow only the city’s general zoning rules, with no facility-specific standards in place.
Concerns have been raised due to these facilities demanding major amounts of land, power, water and mechanical equipment. As a result, the pause would give staff time to draft land-use regulations and gather public input. Council would also need to hold a public hearing within 60 days if it adopts the moratorium.
The moratorium would apply to business licenses, building permits, conditional use permits, site plan reviews, binding site plans, subdivisions, short subdivisions, pre-application conferences and other related land-use approvals.