County Board Member Submits Resolution To Begin Public Hearing Process On Data Center Moratorium

ROMEOVILLE, IL — Will County Board Member Destinee Ortiz, who represents the Romeoville area, has submitted a resolution to the county board which would begin a public hearing process on a temporary data center moratorium.

Ortiz said the proposal follows the approach that Lake County took earlier this year.

Lake County’s board first passed a resolution initiating a public hearing on a zoning amendment. Following that process, it separately approved an eight-month moratorium in September. Ortiz’s resolution asks Will County to take the first step; it would not itself impose a moratorium.

“Residents brought this concern to my town hall, and they deserve a real opportunity to be heard before we decide how data centers should be regulated,” Ortiz said in a news release. “We need to understand the potential effects on our water and electricity supply, infrastructure, stormwater, noise, and neighboring properties. Starting a public hearing process gives residents a way to ask those questions in the open.”

If adopted, the resolution would ask the Land Use Department and Zoning Administrator to prepare proposed zoning amendment language. The Planning and Zoning Commission would then hold a public hearing, receive testimony, and forward its findings and recommendation to the County Board.

A decision to adopt an eight-month moratorium would require a later, separate County Board vote on an ordinance, a news release states.

Ortiz said she will provide an update when she learns whether the resolution has been scheduled for Executive Committee consideration.