Bellevue Village Board passes data center moratorium

BELLEVUE – On Wednesday, August 12, the Bellevue Village Board held a public hearing and unanimously passed a temporary 12-month moratorium on data centers.

This moratorium involves an amendment to chapter 500 of Bellevue’s Zoning Code and temporarily blocks the development or construction of data centers in Bellevue for a 12-month period.

The board defined a data center as “a dedicated building, facility or campus used primarily to house computer system servers that process, store and transmit digital data.”

Village Administrator Benjamin Krumenauer delivered a short presentation clarifying what a moratorium is its and technical aspects before the floor was opened to a public hearing.
Krumenauer clarified that moratoriums are a temporary measure — they simply give the village more time to research the impact of data centers and make a decision at the end of the 12 month period.

“The state of Wisconsin’s regulations limit the length and overall time you can amend the length of a moratorium,” said Krumenauer. “Wisconsin allows for up to 12 months and one additional six month extension — if appropriate — at which point in time the board would correct whatever perceived issue they have in their code...or the moratorium would simply expire. Moratoriums are not meant to be a tool to prohibit something forever.”

Before the vote took place, many community members spoke at the public hearing, voicing their support of the moratorium and citing potential negative environmental and community impacts caused by data centers.

“I support the ban on data centers to prevent environmental degradation, ice pollution, fossil fuel pollution, water supply issues and surging electrical bills,” said community member Kathy Lane. “I would hope that Bellevue would enact this temporary moratorium so many of these concerns can be addressed.”

One community member asked that Bellevue adopt a policy preventing board members from entering into non-disclosure agreements with developers, and another raised concerns regarding electromagnetic fields created by data centers.

Krumenauer said that if a developer formally applied to build a data center in Bellevue, those documents would be accessible to the public due to open records laws, adding that the board would research impacts such as electromagnetic fields during the duration of the moratorium.

Trustee Jackie Krull added that it may be worth it for the board to look into restrictions on other developments that strip natural resources — not just data centers.

“If our concern is the amount of water, electricity and natural resources the facility uses and the emissions, noise and amount of land it takes up, then I think we should be looking at those characteristics rather than calling it a data center,” said Krull. “So, for example, would we have the same concerns with a large Amazon supply center, which includes a warehouse and fulfillment center?”

After a discussion on these restrictions and addressing community comments, the board unanimously passed the data center moratorium, which will expire in August of 2027.

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