The Pierce County Council voted 6-1 Wednesday to pass an emergency ordinance banning the siting, expansion and establishment of data centers for one year in unincorporated areas.
Although county staff said there are no applications for new or expanded data centers before the county, chair Jani Hitchen said the emergency ordinance was introduced preemptively.
It is now prohibited for the county to accept, process or approve a permit application for a new or expanded data center exceeding 10 megawatts of total electric capacity and IT load in unincorporated Pierce County, per the ordinance. The ordinance also includes a work plan for staff to evaluate the developmental regulations of data centers…