NORTH MANKATO — North Mankato residents will have the chance to speak their mind regarding a year-long data center moratorium, following shortly after Mankato unanimously passed a moratorium of their own after the majority of public input was in favor of the ordinance on July 13.
The City Council unanimously voted in favor of setting a public hearing on Aug. 3 on an ordinance authorizing a study and imposing a moratorium on data centers.
The proposed ordinance defines a large-scale data center as a facility primarily used for storing, processing, managing or transmitting digital data that exceeds 250,000 square feet or uses 50,000 gallons of water per day or more. The definition also includes supporting infrastructure such as offices, cooling systems, generators, water storage and utility substations, while excluding smaller computing facilities that are incidental to another primary use.
Under the proposed ordinance, any new data center is considered a prohibited use within the city during the moratorium. The ordinance also bars the construction or expansion of new or existing data centers and directs the city not to accept, review, process or approve permit applications or other requests related to those projects while the moratorium remains in effect.
The new action follows a July 6 council work session where council members discussed adopting a temporary moratorium to allow time to study potential zoning regulations, environmental impacts and development standards for data centers. No formal action was taken at that meeting.
“Due to a specific transformation and evolution in new technologies, including artificial intelligence, cloud computing and other digital infrastructure, Minnesota has recently seen an increase in developers looking for sites to construct new data centers,” the proposed ordinance states.
During the July 6 work session, City Attorney Chris Kennedy told the council the proposed moratorium was intended to give the city time to establish a definition for data centers and determine how they should be regulated.
Kennedy said the study could examine issues including water consumption, electrical demand, noise, lighting and appropriate locations for such facilities, as well as review ordinances adopted by other Minnesota communities, monitor potential state and federal regulations and develop recommendations for future zoning standards.
Resident Benton Bakke urged the council to consider stricter standards for defining data centers ahead of the public hearing, including smaller building footprints and limits on water and power use.
The city has not received an application for a data center, Community Development Director Mike Fischer said, in regard to a question asked by resident Duane Rader, on whether there was ever an official proposal.
Rader said though he was in favor of a moratorium, he questioned potential misinformation circulating regarding any formal data center proposal or application, arguing that without one there was nothing for officials to evaluate.
“It is my understanding that data centers come in all shapes and sizes. If one has not been proposed, how can we as citizens be opposed?” he asked.
Though no official proposal has ever been brought to council, a large-scale data center concept in North Mankato was placed on hold in 2025 after property development group Oppidan ended its involvement.
In November 2025, Fischer said Oppidan was “no longer interested in North Mankato” and the company’s withdrawal halted discussions before an official application was filed. The city is not currently operating under a nondisclosure agreement related to such a project, city documents say.
In addition to adopting a moratorium, the city should vacate its existing Alternative Urban Areawide Review, or AUAR, of a project called “North Mankato Industrial” to require additional environmental review before future large-scale developments, said resident Tom Hagen. He said the moratorium alone would not address concerns related to the existing AUAR.