Plymouth MN interim ordinance, data centers over 50,000 sq ft (2026)

Plymouth, Minn. (Hennepin County) — INTERIM ORDINANCE approved UNANIMOUSLY by the City Council, 'prohibiting the LOCATION, ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION of data centers LARGER THAN 50,000 SQUARE FEET within [the] city'. OPERATIVE FORMULATION: the three verbs — location, establishment, operation — are broader than the accept/process/approve formulations recorded elsewhere (Marysville KS 12-month data center moratorium (2026); McDonald OH one-year data center moratorium (2026); Arcata CA 45-day data center moratorium (2026)). 'OPERATION' ON ITS FACE REACHES CONDUCT RATHER THAN ONLY PERMITTING, which is a materially wider prohibition, though whether it is intended to reach any existing facility is NOT established and should not be assumed. THRESHOLD CALIBRATION: at 50,000 SQ FT Plymouth sits above the indexed comparators — Bemidji MN one-year data center moratorium (2026) (10,000 sq ft, plus crypto mining at any size), Eureka CA data center moratorium and 20,000 sq ft cap direction (2026) (staff directed to permit only ≤20,000 sq ft), Lawrence County IL two-year data center moratorium (2026) (10,000 sq ft). A 50,000 sq ft floor admits ordinary commercial and enterprise server facilities while capturing hyperscale development, which is a deliberate calibration and one that also avoids the over-inclusiveness problem Marysville had to solve with an express server-room exclusion. INSTRUMENT AND STATUTORY CEILING: 'interim ordinance' is the term of art in MINN. STAT. § 462.355 SUBD. 4, which authorises a municipality's GOVERNING BODY to adopt an interim ordinance for UP TO 12 MONTHS while conducting a study, and caps the total at that period. The council — the governing body — adopted it, which distinguishes this from Bemidji MN one-year data center moratorium (2026), where a PLANNING BOARD vote was reported as the final action and that entry is held at needs-confirmation for exactly that reason. expires_date 2027-09-01 IS COMPUTED on the assumption of the statutory 12-month maximum and IS NOT STATED IN THE SOURCE. MINNESOTA CLUSTER AND ITS CAUTIONARY CASE: Bemidji MN one-year data center moratorium (2026); Inver Grove Heights MN data center moratorium amended under lawsuit (2026), where a one-year interim ordinance was AMENDED 3-1 to exclude the very project it targeted after developer QLevr sued in Dakota County District Court and the city computed at least $20 MILLION of exposure against a $1 MILLION insurance cap. THAT RECORD IS THE REASON A SUBURBAN MINNESOTA INTERIM ORDINANCE SHOULD NOT BE ASSUMED DURABLE MERELY BECAUSE IT WAS LAWFULLY ADOPTED. NOT ESTABLISHED: the term length (computed, not sourced), the adoption date, the ordinance number, whether any application was pending, and whether 'operation' is intended to reach existing facilities.