Lamar attorney warns 24-month data-center moratorium could face legal challenge
The city attorney said the proposed pause could be unreasonable, while the City Council sought comparisons with other communities before an Oct. 12 follow-up.
Lamar’s city attorney warned the City Council on Sept. 14 that a proposed 24-month moratorium on data-center development could be challenged as unreasonable or as an unlawful taking. The council did not adopt a new moratorium or revise the proposal, and instead scheduled a follow-up for Oct. 12.
City Attorney Lance Clark said a moratorium must remain reasonably related to investigating an issue and developing regulations. He cited a Colorado Supreme Court decision striking down a five-year oil-and-gas moratorium and said a shorter pause could be extended if the city continued to document its planning work.
Council members discussed shorter periods, including six-month terms that could be renewed while the city developed data-center standards. They asked City Administrator Mitch Hammiss and Clark to research whether other communities had used 12- or 24-month moratoriums, how those policies were structured and what legal consequences followed. The Sept. 14 council meeting recording shows Hammiss asking for more time to assemble that information.
The Oct. 12 discussion will address possible time periods and Clark’s recommendations. The meeting record does not show the council adopting an ordinance or resolution establishing a moratorium.
At its Aug. 24 meeting, the council unanimously rejected a proposed mutual nondisclosure agreement related to data-center discussions and directed staff to prepare a 24-month moratorium. The earlier council recording documents that direction, which was not itself an enactment of the moratorium.