Washington County Will Not Pause New Data Center Projects for Now Despite Oregon-Wide Concerns

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ore. — Notwithstanding several moratoriums on data centers by counties in Oregon, Washington County decided on Tuesday not to move forward with a similar intervention.

Washington Data Centers: County Forgoes Moratoriums

During Tuesday’s session, Washington’s Board of Commissioners did not move forward with a moratorium on data centers, but drafted a resolution acknowledging the public’s concerns and established a “de facto moratorium.”

93% of Washington’s nearly 410,900 acres of unincorporated land is rural- with limited opportunities for data centers. Only land with particular industrial classifications may be used for data center development.

Just eight parcels met the criteria, all of which are already developed, and by the time of the meeting, no developers had submitted new land-use applications to build a data center. In any event, the county’s rural land regulations would not allow data center construction.

Watch the Washington County Session video on data center moratoriums:

Like most municipalities in Oregon, there are no specific guidelines for data centers in Washington County’s land use code, although if a developer did submit an application for a data center project, the county would be required to approve it-  if the application met all the criteria.

Commissioners agreed to draft a resolution acknowledging the public’s concerns, and established what they called “a de facto moratorium.”  The Board may still reconsider at a later time.

Washington County Data Center Analysis

Any Oregon government t must give 45 days’ notice of a public hearing and a vote before considering a moratorium, which lasts 120 days (but can be extended).

Two Washington County cities have made decisions similar to Washington County’s, but in both cases it seemed unlikely that a developer would be able to build a large data hub in the respective city:

• Beaverton: Passed a resolution supporting a data center ban, but didn’t move for a formal moratorium
• Tigard directed city staff to stand down.

Hillsboro has a moratorium on data centers, while Woodburn, Salem, and Clackamas County have all started the moratorium process.