Minnesota city sets hearing on yearlong data center moratorium as opposition spreads

Before deciding whether to allow a highly resource-intensive kind of project, North Mankato plans to hear from the public. Officials have set a hearing on a proposed one-year pause on data center development, creating a formal venue for resident input.

North Mankato is not acting alone. Nearby Mankato already adopted a comparable moratorium, a sign that unease over fast-growing digital infrastructure is widening in the area.

What's happening?

Just weeks after Mankato adopted its own moratorium with most public feedback in favor, the North Mankato City Council unanimously set an Aug. 3 public hearing on an ordinance that would authorize a study and temporarily halt new data center development, as the Mankato Free Press reported.

Under the proposed ordinance, a large-scale data center would be defined as a facility mainly devoted to storing, processing, managing, or transmitting digital data if it is larger than 250,000 square feet or would use at least 50,000 gallons of water a day. The definition would also include associated offices, cooling systems, generators, water storage, and utility substations.

If approved, the moratorium would classify new data centers as prohibited uses for one year, and the city would stop processing applications tied to building or expanding them while officials study zoning rules, environmental impacts, and development standards.

The proposed review follows a July 6 work session in which, as the Mankato Free Press reported, City Attorney Chris Kennedy said the city wanted time to determine what qualifies as a data center and how to regulate it. The ordinance states: "Due to a specific transformation and evolution in new technologies, including artificial intelligence, cloud computing and other digital infrastructure, Minnesota has recently seen an increase in developers looking for sites to construct new data centers."

Why does it matter?

The debate centers on everyday quality-of-life concerns, including water use, electricity demand, noise, lighting, and where large industrial-scale facilities belong. A one-year pause could give local leaders time to set rules before projects move faster than the community can respond.

While data centers can bring investment, they can also place heavy demands on shared resources. When a facility could use tens of thousands of gallons of water per day and require major power infrastructure, neighbors want to know how that might affect utility systems, land use, and costs over time. On top of that, noise and pollution concerns that have been present in many areas across the U.S. add a personal dimension for residents in areas where they're being planned. 

What's being done?

The public hearing will address whether a temporary ban is the right tool or whether more targeted standards could ease concerns without freezing all development.

Community Development Director Mike Fischer said, according to the Mankato Free Press, that no data center application has been filed, and an earlier concept lost momentum after property development group Oppidan backed away. Fischer previously said Oppidan was "no longer interested in North Mankato."

Residents are also calling for stronger safeguards if the city eventually allows these projects. Resident Benton Bakke urged officials to consider stricter thresholds, including smaller building footprints and tighter limits on water and power use.

Others are pushing for even more oversight. Resident Tom Hagen said the city should also vacate its existing Alternative Urban Areawide Review tied to a project called "North Mankato Industrial," arguing that the moratorium alone may not fully address environmental concerns.

The pause could be used to create clearer definitions, establish location and performance standards, study utility impacts, and require environmental review.

For now, the hearing is less about stopping a specific project than about deciding how North Mankato wants to grow.

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