Hillsboro, Oregon, is advancing an ordinance to limit land for new data centers after residents raised concerns about the facilities’ environmental effects, land use and tax breaks. The City Council voted unanimously at a Tuesday meeting to move the proposal forward and plans to vote on it October 20. The measure follows a temporary moratorium imposed in July; the city had previously welcomed data centers for more than a decade with favorable zoning, tax incentives and access to industrial land.

The proposal would cap new standalone data center construction at 30 additional acres and create a 1,000-foot buffer around schools. It would also restrict the size and locations of battery storage facilities, some of which serve data centers. Council members called the ordinance a first step and said further work could consider height limits, buffers around parks and natural areas, and changes to tax breaks. Residents urged officials to assess power demand, water use, noise, emissions, and effects on nearby farms and neighborhoods before setting future operating rules.

Hillsboro has more than 430 acres occupied by data centers, with another 140 acres under construction or allocated for development. Washington County records show the facilities received $84 million in local property tax breaks last year and employed 284 people, or $296,000 in tax breaks per job annually. Public opposition grew in May after operators sought 17 new incentives just before the one-year moratorium took effect. The incentives would begin successively in five-year increments and extend for decades; although state officials said they had not heard of another business using the program that way, Hillsboro approved them. Salem, Portland and Clackamas County are also taking steps to limit data center growth, while Oregon’s governor and Republican gubernatorial opponent have called for a moratorium until the state adopts new protections.

Hillsboro, Oregon, is advancing an ordinance to limit land for new data centers after residents raised concerns about the facilities’ environmental effects, land use and tax breaks. The City Council voted unanimously at a Tuesday meeting to move the proposal forward and plans to vote on it October 20. The measure follows a temporary moratorium imposed in July; the city had previously welcomed data centers for more than a decade with favorable zoning, tax incentives and access to industrial land.

The proposal would cap new standalone data center construction at 30 additional acres and create a 1,000-foot buffer around schools. It would also restrict the size and locations of battery storage facilities, some of which serve data centers. Council members called the ordinance a first step and said further work could consider height limits, buffers around parks and natural areas, and changes to tax breaks. Residents urged officials to assess power demand, water use, noise, emissions, and effects on nearby farms and neighborhoods before setting future operating rules.

Hillsboro has more than 430 acres occupied by data centers, with another 140 acres under construction or allocated for development. Washington County records show the facilities received $84 million in local property tax breaks last year and employed 284 people, or $296,000 in tax breaks per job annually. Public opposition grew in May after operators sought 17 new incentives just before the one-year moratorium took effect. The incentives would begin successively in five-year increments and extend for decades; although state officials said they had not heard of another business using the program that way, Hillsboro approved them. Salem, Portland and Clackamas County are also taking steps to limit data center growth, while Oregon’s governor and Republican gubernatorial opponent have called for a moratorium until the state adopts new protections.