City commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a two-year moratorium on large-scale data centers in Lawrence, extending an original one-year proposal, while city staff study longer-term code changes.
The commission also initiated a text amendment to the city’s land development code related to data centers. The code currently would allow massive data centers to be developed in several zoning areas around town by right, without a public process through which residents could object.
Planning and Development Services Director Jeff Crick told commissioners the temporary moratorium is intended to give staff time to study the issue and draft regulations. He said the work could require significant staff resources and could delay or suspend other long-range and special projects.
Commissioners previously directed staff to bring the moratorium forward, but they pulled the item from the consent agenda to allow for public discussion, especially about an exception process.
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Before public comment, Mayor Brad Finkeldei said commissioners already supported the moratorium and did not need to be persuaded.
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More than 75 people attended the meeting, many to urge commissioners to make the moratorium stronger.
“I support a full, clean, one-year moratorium without a loophole that lets favored projects skip the line,” public commenter Katie Hasty said.
Michael Almon, with the Sustainability Action Network, said “If you adopt a nonbinding moratorium that you can nullify at will, that is no moratorium at all.”
Some speakers called for a permanent ban on data centers, while others said one or two years may not be enough time to fully understand the impacts on water, electricity and quality of life.
Some members of the public voiced concerns about an exception in the moratorium that will create a process allowing applications to the city to construct data centers. Deputy City Attorney Randy Larkin said the exception language was included to protect the city from liability and preserve due process for landowners.
Finkeldei said that potentially without that loophole, someone could file a lawsuit against the city tomorrow. With a process in place — which would include a public hearing and give people opportunities to object, as commissioners approved it Tuesday — at least there would have to be an actual plan for a data center filed before someone could sue the city.
Several speakers also asked commissioners to adopt a formal definition of a data center as part of code work, saying the term should be clearly spelled out before regulations are written.
Although there is no single definition, Cisco defines a hyperscale data center as typically housing 5,000 or more servers, is more than 10,000 square feet, and using a horizontally scalable, software-defined architecture.
Holly Krebs, lead organizer for the Coalition for Collaborative Governance, asked the commissioners to clearly define what the research is that staff should conduct and said that the coalition is willing to help with policy research.
Commissioner Mike Dever said the city could use research and similar language that is already being used and proposed across the United States.
Some Lawrence community members are planning to join a “Humans First” national day of protest against hyperscale data centers. Their protest is set for 9 to 10 a.m. Saturday, July 18 at Robinson Park, Sixth and Massachusetts streets in Lawrence.
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Courtney Lane (she/her), staff reporter, has worked with The Lawrence Times since April 2026. She can be reached at [email protected].
Read her complete bio here. Read her work for the Times at this link, and see her photography for the Times at this link.
Nathan Kramer (he/him), a multimedia student journalist for The Lawrence Times since August 2024, is a recent graduate of Free State High School. He also served as a news photo editor for Free State’s student publication, where he worked as a videographer, photographer and motion designer. See more of his work for the Times here.
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