Bemidji adopts 1-year moratorium on data center development

BEMIDJI — Bemidji city staffers have one year to craft an ordinance specific to data center development after the Planning Board passed a moratorium.

The 6-1 vote Monday, Sept. 14, was the final action to prohibit development on data centers exceeding 10,000 square feet within Bemidji’s city limits.

It also extends to crypto mining facilities of any size.

The move was first discussed in August, following a February news report that inaccurately included Bemidji on a list of planned data centers in Minnesota. The action was recommended for Board approval by the volunteer Planning Commission in late August.

Data centers smaller than 10,000 square feet would still be permitted under the moratorium. Paul Bunyan Communications, for example, has a server room on its campus that acts as a small data center.

Ward 3 council member Mark Dickinson was the sole “nay” vote. He said putting up barriers to development was not in Bemidji’s interest.

“If there was another company that wanted to do something in Bemidji that was bigger than 10,000 square feet — maybe 11,000 square feet — and we're going to say ‘no’ to those people if they wanted to build a $4 [million] to $5 million facility out in the Industrial Park that would maybe generate, you know, $150,000 to $200,000 a year in tax revenue, I don't know why we would say ‘no’ to that,” he said.

State law allows local governments to pass moratoria of up to one year. The state Legislature recently defined large-scale data centers as greater than 25,000 square feet in statute.

The parameters of what could possibly be included in the data center ordinance were also discussed during Monday’s meeting.

“Data centers come in many different sizes, shapes, and forms,” said Bemidji Mayor Jorge Prince. “What we're seeing in certain places is a move towards a more boutique-type solution.”

Bemidji’s Planning Board includes all members of the City Council and decides matters related to planning and zoning ordinances.

Ward 4 council member Emelie Rivera recapped the zoning requirements for development within Bemidji’s Industrial Park on the south side of town. They describe clean, quiet and enclosed facilities that are “free of hazardous or objectionable elements such as noise, odor, dust, smoke, glare or other pollutants.”

“Things like [data center] noise pollution and light pollution, and water usage, are very legitimate things that should be studied if this is something that we are actually going to consider doing down the road so that we understand how it can fit, if it can fit,” Rivera said.

Bemidji joins a growing list of at least a dozen Minnesota communities to enact a moratorium on data centers.