Tooele County planners table three data center ordinances after hours of public comment

The Tooele County Planning Commission voted unanimously on Oct. 7 to table three land use proposals tied to data centers: amendments to Chapters 2, 17 and 17A (TCLUO 2026-139), a new Chapter 17B for a technology industries district (TCLUO 2026-141) and Chapter 34, data center facilities (TCLUO 2026-100). The meeting ran about four hours, and public comment was limited to three minutes per speaker. ^[1][2][3][4]

Commissioner Richard Mitchell moved to table the first two items. On the recording he said he disagreed with the proposed data center definition and would not support changes to the other chapters until Chapter 34 was settled. A speaker described the Chapter 17 changes as setting the definition and removing a zoning district from another chapter, with Chapter 34 following as a three-step process. ^[2][3]

Mitchell later argued that the draft did not account for the heat a very large facility would release, using a 900-megawatt facility as his example, and said he had asked for a thermal setback. KSL reported that Vice Chair Toni Scott's motion on Chapter 34 called for tabling until the commission can define a data center and answer questions raised in the earlier tablings. ^[3][4]

Residents filled much of the meeting with comment, most of it opposing the drafts and citing water, power, air quality and infrastructure. KSL reported that the group TooeleCARES delivered a letter with more than 900 signatures asking officials to slow the process. A speaker reading the letter asked that Chapter 34 not be approved as currently written, saying it moves the county toward allowing data centers before safeguards, monitoring and emergency protections are set. ^[3][4][5]

A speaker who identified as a state senator also addressed the commission, according to the recording, and asked for the strongest possible protections and transparency in whatever recommendation goes to the County Council. The speaker gave a name the Ledger could not confirm from the recording, so it is not printed here. ^[3]

Assistant County Manager Brittany Lopez told KSL the county took a proactive approach after seeing data center effects elsewhere in Utah. KSL reported that the County Council has said it will not accept a data center application until Chapter 34 is complete, and that the county knows of a developer's interest in a possible Tooele data center but has no details. ^[4]

In other business the commission approved, 7-0 each, preliminary plats for two Ivory Development phases in Stansbury Park: Sagewood Gardens Phase 2A on 3.71 acres and Sagewood Village Phase 15 on 5.2 acres. ^[1][3]