A Green Bay lawmaker is urging locals to back a proposed moratorium on data centers in Brown County, though a lack of county-wide zoning could undercut the proposal’s impact.
Rep. Amaad Rivera-Wagner, D-Green Bay, yesterday issued a statement encouraging county residents to “attend, testify, and make their voices heard” in support of the proposal from Supv. Christopher Welch.
Rivera-Wagner argued “we can welcome economic development while still protecting the people” of Wisconsin, noting the proposal will only succeed if residents speak up.
“The question is not whether data centers should exist,” he said. “The question is whether they should operate without meaningful safeguards. The cost of reasonable regulation is small. The cost of getting this wrong could mean higher utility bills, greater strain on our resources, increased pressure on local infrastructure, and fewer protections for workers and communities.”
The county’s Planning, Development and Transportation Committee will take up the proposal from Welch this evening.
He’s calling for a vote on a “temporary pause” on data centers, barring data centers from purchasing land and permits in the county until “proper regulations, monitoring, DNR enforcement, energy infrastructure drain can be properly enforced and enacted” by the state Legislature.
In a communication included in tonight’s meeting agenda, Welch is seeking a pause on “any movement forward on data centers until the state can catch up and fully address it.”
But Jeff Flynt, deputy executive for Brown County, notes it doesn’t do county-wide zoning like some other Wisconsin counties. In an interview yesterday, he said this type of zoning regulation around data centers would be done at the municipal level, meaning the proposal likely wouldn’t have any teeth even if it ends up approved by the board.
Still, he said this evening’s meeting will give committee members the opportunity to discuss the topic and how to proceed, whether that means referring it to the county’s legal department to evaluate what can be done at the county level, or forwarding it to the full board to take up at its next meeting, June 17.
Flynt said there’s been a debate at the county level in the past over what he called feel-good resolutions, pointing to an effort in 2019 to pass a resolution expressing support for legalizing marijuana despite the move having no concrete impact.
Meanwhile, other locals are seeking to drum up support for the moratorium, posting details about the meeting in a neighborhood Facebook group with thousands of members.
Another post in a Facebook group called Stop the Northeast Wisconsin Data Centers is urging locals to attend the meeting or voice concerns to local officials, detailing specific points to mention in their comments. Group member and county resident Julie Carter referenced possible concerns over air pollution from construction dust or diesel generators, or about potential groundwater contamination and impacts on private wells.
“These are real, practical concerns that help supervisors understand how this project could affect the people who live here,” she wrote.
See the release and meeting agenda.
See more in a recent story on data center moratoriums in the state.
