City of Littleton considers six month moratorium on data centers

LITTLETON, Colo. - The City of Littleton is considering a six-month moratorium on any future data center projects.

Denver7 confirmed there are no current data center proposals within Littleton city limits that have been filed; the proactive move follows several communities across Colorado considering similar moratoriums.

WATCH: City of Littleton considers six month moratorium on data centers

The proposed ordinance acknowledges that demand for data centers has grown across the country, and the data centers require large amounts of electricity, water-intensive cooling systems and may create continuous noise and emissions.

The moratorium directs City staff to study the land use, energy, water, noise, air quality, infrastructure, fiscal and economic impacts of data centers and proposed changes to the land use code for any potential future projects.

Denver7's South Metro Reporter Danielle Kreutter heard from Littleton neighbors about their thoughts on data centers.

"What would you like to see as far as restrictions or things that City Council should consider before they allow those kind of projects?" Kreutter asked long time Littleton resident, Paul Bingham.

"Well, I can't think of anything beyond: simply not having any," said Bingham.

Bingham has lived in Littleton for more than 60 years and has seen his fair share of changes and is hopeful data centers stay out of the city.

"[They're] 10-15 football fields in size, a gigantic amount of water and electricity, it all sounds pretty bleak as far as I'm concerned," he said.

He believes the space required for a data center will be a logistical challenge in Littleton regardless.

"We don't have any land available for a data center. Not a great amount of it. It's all being taken up with, well, right now, a gigantic Costco," Bingham said of construction of the 159,000-square foot Costco project at the Mineral Place mixed-use development.

Another Littleton resident, Billy Gooch, also noted how built out Littleton already is.

"You need a lot of land, a lot of power, a lot of water. I'm not sure Littleton has any, much less all of those," said Gooch.

Gooch worked in telecommunications for 14 years.

"I've worked in and around data centers. There are ways to do it responsibly," he said.

He's hopeful, if passed, the moratorium requires any possible future projects to follow that requirement.

"What would you like to see, generally, included in those considerations?" asked Denver7's South Metro Reporter Danielle Kreutter.

"At the very least, they need to pay their own way. No public subsidies. We need to make sure rate payers' electricity is not being impacted and that water is not being impacted," he said.

The first hearing on the ordinance is Tuesday night, with a public hearing currently scheduled for November 3. A final vote will happen after the public hearing, however a date has not been set.

Read the full proposed ordinance below: