Calumet County sign, November 4, 2021. PC: Fox 11 Online
CHILTON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — While other cities and counties are passing data center moratoriums, Calumet County has not.
It’s because their zoning ordinance already doesn’t allow data centers in the county.
“We didn’t need to [pass a moratorium],” said Calumet County Administrator Todd Romenesko. “Our current ordinance does not allow it as permissible use.”
A legal adviser said because it isn’t allowed as permissible use, a moratorium would be redundant.
“From my standpoint, you don’t need a moratorium in Calumet County,” said Rebecca Roeker, attorney at Attolles Law, who advised the county on Monday night. “Again, because of your existing ordinances and because of the modifications that the elected officials are going to consider in the near future.”
Any modifications would likely just be to close any potential legal loopholes.
These zoning ordinances apply to townships in the county, but not necessarily villages or cities. For example, it’ll apply in the town of Woodville, but may not in the city of Chilton, as villages and cities may have their own separate zoning ordinances.
Romenesko said there are no current data center proposals in the county.
The discussion comes as the Chicago-based Invenergy has proposed a natural gas energy project and wind energy project in the county, which has raised concerns from residents about the possibility of a new data center in the county. County Administrator Todd Romenesko says there’s no link.
“This just happened to be something we were trying to be proactive on regarding trying to regulate anything regarding data centers,” said Romenesko.
The county does already have several small data centers, according to Romenesko. Because Calumet County has lots of open land, it could be the target of a major data center development.
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