Linn County approves 18-month moratorium on new data center applications

The Linn County Board of Supervisors voted 2-1 on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, to approve an 18-month moratorium on accepting new applications to rezone property for large-scale data centers in unincorporated Linn County, the county said in a release.

The moratorium takes effect immediately and will remain in effect until 11:59 p.m. Central Time on January 1, 2028, unless the Board extends it or ends it early after amending the county’s Unified Development Ordinance for large-scale data centers, according to the county.

The moratorium applies only to unincorporated Linn County and does not apply to cities within the county because the Board of Supervisors does not have jurisdiction over city zoning regulations, the county said. It does not affect existing data center campuses being built by Google and QTS in southwest Cedar Rapids, The Gazette reported.

Supervisors Brandy Z. Meisheid and Kirsten Running-Marquardt voted in favor of the moratorium; Supervisor Sami Scheetz voted against it, according to multiple reports.

“I can no longer look my constituents in the eye and tell them in good faith that we have accurate data to make these informed decisions because I truly believe we do not,” Meisheid said, as quoted by The Gazette. “We cannot move forward without knowing what our community can sustain.”

Scheetz said he voted against the moratorium because the comprehensive data center ordinance the Board unanimously passed in February 2026 already provides strong protections, including an independent water study, a binding water use agreement, and the Board’s authority to reject any project that isn’t right for the community, according to the county release.

“It’s the most comprehensive data center ordinance in Iowa, and communities across the state grappling with these projects have looked to the framework we built,” Scheetz said in the release.

Running-Marquardt said the pause will allow the county to review its comprehensive plan alongside new studies about data centers that have come out since the February ordinance, the county release stated.

“This is bigger than one county alone,” she said. “We are listening to the people of Linn County and putting their quality of life first.”

The public hearing ahead of the vote lasted approximately three hours, with standing room only attendance, according to the Corridor Business Journal.

Linn County last updated its comprehensive plan in 2013 and is currently seeking public input on an update through July 17, 2026, the county said. Charlie Nichols is the director of Linn County Planning and Development, according to The Gazette.