Clearfield approves a temporary pause on new data centers and a fiber franchise

Decisions at a glance

Agenda, item by item

1. City code

   Ordinance 2026-13: temporary land use regulation for data centers

   Approved · 4-0 · Citywide

   Associate Planner Tyson Stoddard said data centers are not defined or regulated in Clearfield's code and can involve heavy electrical and water demand, cooling, backup generation, noise and fire-protection needs. The temporary regulation applies citywide for up to 180 days. It restricts construction of new data centers, conversion or alteration of buildings for that use, expansion of existing data centers and related subdivision activity. Stoddard said it does not decide that data centers are permanently prohibited or incompatible with any zone; staff will study impacts and recommend permanent zoning classifications and standards, and would do so even if the council had declined to adopt the temporary rule. The ordinance defines a data center as a building or group of buildings primarily used for servers, data-processing, telecommunications or digital-storage equipment, including cooling, electrical, battery storage and standby generator equipment. It excludes servers that are accessory and incidental to another principal use and separately regulated telecommunications facilities, and it weighs a facility's primary purpose, physical characteristics, equipment and operations. Councilmembers Peterson, Wurth and King each spoke in favor of studying the issue, citing infrastructure impacts, expected state legislation and differences in data-center size and type.

   • Presented by Associate Planner Tyson Stoddard
   • Duration: up to 180 days

   Moved by Councilmember Wurth, seconded by Councilmember Ratchford. Vote: 4-0; Councilmember Karece Thompson absent

   Follow Temporary data center regulation in the development tracker →

2. Contract

   Resolution 2026R-23: franchise agreement with Forged Fiber 37, LLC

   Approved · 4-0

   Deputy Public Works Director Braden Felix said the agreement gives a franchise to a utility company that does not currently have one with the city. He said Forged Fiber 37 would operate facilities previously associated with CenturyLink under AT&T services after the sale of CenturyLink assets to AT&T. The franchise has an initial 15-year term and two optional five-year renewals, for a possible 25 years. The city's legal counsel drafted it and Forged Fiber's counsel approved it. The resolution authorizes execution of the agreement; the minutes do not say it had been signed.

   • Presented by Deputy Public Works Director Braden Felix
   • Term: 15 years, two optional five-year renewals

   Moved by Councilmember Ratchford, seconded by Councilmember Peterson. Vote: 4-0; Councilmember Karece Thompson absent

3. Budget

   Fiscal year 2026 year-end financial update

   Discussed

   Finance Manager Rich Knapp said the figures were not final and the audit is expected to finish in December. The General Fund balance fell about $640,000 against a budgeted decrease of about $2.5 million, and the projected unrestricted balance is about 21% of revenues. The city received about 98% of budgeted revenue and spent about 92% of budgeted expenses. Sales tax revenue rose about 4.1% and beat budget by about $300,000. Building permit revenue was about 24% below the prior year and about $233,000 under budget. The Water Fund had about $2 million in net operating revenue, spent about $1.8 million on capital projects and added about $615,000 to cash. Water well pump electricity ran about $91,000 over budget after the 700 South well went down and two other sites were activated.

   • Presented by Finance Manager Rich Knapp

What residents said

Advance access to presentation materials

Michael Christensen asked the city to make presentation materials available to the public in advance and in full whenever practicable, saying some slides discussed at meetings were not in the packets or notices. Bret Millburn, an unaffiliated candidate for Davis County Commission Seat B, introduced himself and spoke about cooperation between the county and its 15 cities.