Overview
- The Marshalltown City Council enacted a four-month moratorium on new data center construction that can be extended by 60 days to allow time for rulemaking.
- City staff are collecting resident feedback through a community roundtable at the Coliseum and plan to use those comments to shape regulations.
- Officials say the initial regulatory work will focus on limiting noise, protecting local water supplies and addressing electrical use within the bounds of Iowa law.
- About 30 minutes after the council’s moratorium vote, Swarm Systems CEO Amir Atefi presented a proposal for 21 acres in the city-owned Edgewood Industrial Park but the council did not move forward on any land-purchase discussion.
- The subject has drawn large crowds to council meetings since June and the moratorium gives the city formal time to balance community concerns with potential data center development.