Grand Junction moves toward a one-year pause on data centers

Council will hold an Oct. 21 public hearing on a proposal to pause applications while the city studies water, power and other local impacts.

Grand Junction has no land-use category specifically for data centers and no development standards tailored to them. City Council has taken the first step toward putting applications on hold while it decides what those rules should be.

Council approved the first reading of a proposed one-year moratorium on Oct. 7. The pause is not yet in effect. A public hearing and second reading are scheduled for Oct. 21, according to the city's announcement.

What the pause would cover The proposal would stop the city from accepting, processing or approving development applications for data centers with a projected electrical demand of one megawatt or more. It would apply within Grand Junction city limits.

That threshold is low by Colorado standards. Broomfield's 18-month moratorium, passed in July, applies only to facilities using 10 megawatts or more, Colorado Newsline reported.

Data centers house the computer systems that store, process and manage digital information. Their demands on electricity and water vary with their size and operations, but larger facilities can put substantial demands on local infrastructure.

During the pause, city staff would study potential effects on water supplies, electricity, wastewater systems, public safety and surrounding properties. Staff would also consider which zoning districts should allow data centers and what development standards should apply.

The moratorium would last up to 365 days. It could end sooner if council adopts amendments to the Land Use Code addressing data centers.

The county went first Mesa County commissioners voted 3-0 on Sept. 29 to adopt their own 12-month moratorium covering unincorporated county land, the Daily Sentinel reported. County Community Development Director Greg Moberg told the paper that no data center proposals are in the works in the county, and called its current rules "inadequate." Under the existing code, he said, a data center would be treated much like a warehouse, which in some zones would make it a use allowed by right with only a site plan review.

Moberg also said the city had expressed interest in aligning city and county standards. The city describes that work as coordination with neighboring jurisdictions over how different rules could affect development across boundary lines. The Sentinel reported in September that matching rules would keep a project from simply locating just outside city limits to avoid regulation.

The county's broader Land Development Code rewrite goes to the Planning Commission on Oct. 15 and is tentatively set for commissioners on Nov. 17. It would define data centers, limit them to the county's two industrial zones and require a conditional use permit, which means public hearings before both the Planning Commission and the commissioners. Moberg told commissioners the draft still leaves gaps on electrical demand, water use, backup power, mechanical noise and lighting, which is why the county paused applications rather than relying on the rewrite alone.

Part of a statewide pattern Grand Junction would be joining a growing list. Montrose County commissioners unanimously approved a six-month moratorium on data center applications in July, KVNF reported. On the Front Range, Denver adopted a one-year pause in May, Boulder County a six-month pause in June, and Larimer County extended its moratorium, according to Colorado Newsline.

Local governments are acting in part because the state did not. Two competing bills in the 2026 legislative session, one offering tax breaks to attract large data centers and one setting environmental guardrails, both failed in committee in the session's final days, Westword reported. That left Colorado with neither incentives nor industry-specific state protections. The state has 56 data centers, according to Data Center Map figures cited by the Colorado Sun.

Where a project has actually arrived, the process has been long. In Colorado Springs, City Council voted 7-2 in September to postpone a final decision on the proposed Project Taurus data center until April 2027, after a hearing at which 120 people spoke, Colorado Politics reported.

Public hearing on Oct. 21 Residents can weigh in at the Oct. 21 public hearing, when council is scheduled to consider the ordinance on second reading. Council's regular meetings begin at 5:30 p.m., and the agenda and packet will be posted on the city's agenda portal ahead of the meeting.

Even if council approves the ordinance that night, the pause would not begin immediately. The city says it would take effect 30 days after final passage and publication, as required by the City Charter, which puts the earliest start in late November.

Grand Junction moves toward a one-year pause on data centers

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