While Hillsboro holds firm on its data center moratorium, Washington County is taking a softer path.

The Washington County Board of Commissioners decided Wednesday, Sept. 2, not to pursue a formal moratorium on data center development in unincorporated areas. OregonLive reported that commissioners agreed instead to draft a resolution acknowledging public concerns and establishing what they called a "de facto moratorium." The board left open the option to reconsider later. Individual vote tallies were not immediately available.

The decision contrasts with Hillsboro, which KGW reported enacted a 120-day moratorium on data center and battery energy storage system developments on July 27. Under Hillsboro's moratorium, the city will not accept land use applications for new or expanded data centers. Projects that had already submitted applications may continue.

County staff told the board that data center construction in unincorporated areas is unlikely. Staff found just eight parcels with the industrial classifications needed for such development. All eight are already developed. No developer has submitted a land use application for a data center on unincorporated county land, and officials said no large-scale data center facilities exist there.

Nearly 93% of Washington County's roughly 410,900 unincorporated acres is rural. Erin Wardell, assistant director of land use and transportation, said rural land regulations would not allow data center construction.

"I'm not willing to invest staff time to look at putting a moratorium on something that has a very, very, very remote possibility of ever occurring," District 4 Commissioner Jerry Willey said at the meeting.

County spokesperson Lauren Scott said a data center company could theoretically buy a large, existing parcel with established employers, but staff considers such a purchase unlikely. If a developer did submit an application that met all criteria, the county would be required to approve it. The county's land use code has no specific guidelines for data centers.

District 1 Commissioner Nafisa Fai, who requested the data center discussion, will face District 2 Commissioner Pam Treece in a November runoff for Commission Chair. Fai pushed for a formal pause, writing to fellow board members that the county should halt development until "clear and practical guardrails and standards are established." Treece announced at the meeting that she would join a data center workgroup Fai has been pushing to form.

As we reported Aug. 25, Fai's original proposal called for pausing new data center and AI computing facility permitting within both the county's land use jurisdiction and Clean Water Services' authority.

Beaverton and Tigard took approaches similar to the county's. Beaverton adopted a resolution signaling support for a data center ban but did not pursue a formal moratorium, and Tigard directed staff to stand down. Woodburn, Salem and Clackamas County have all started the formal moratorium process, according to OregonLive.

Meanwhile, Hillsboro's Planning Commission held a public hearing Aug. 26 on a draft amendment to the city's Community Development Code that would limit where data and energy storage facilities can locate. The commission closed the hearing and requested additional options from staff. Deliberations are scheduled to resume Wednesday, Sept. 9. Residents can follow updates on the city's data center page at hillsboro-oregon.gov/community/data-centers.