Jasper County SC data center moratorium and pending ordinance doctrine (2026)

Jasper County, S.C. — FIRST READING of a one-year data center moratorium approved by the County Council on a Tuesday night, 'WHICH ALSO ENACTED A PENDING ORDINANCE DOCTRINE.' THE PENDING ORDINANCE DOCTRINE IS THE ANALYTICALLY SIGNIFICANT CONTENT AND IS UNIQUE IN THIS DATASET. THE PROBLEM IT SOLVES: a first reading is not an enactment. South Carolina county ordinances require multiple readings over a period of weeks, and the interval between public introduction and final adoption is precisely when a developer with notice will file, then argue that the later-adopted moratorium cannot be applied to a pending application. THE VESTED-RIGHTS DEFEATS RECORDED THROUGHOUT THIS DATASET ARE THIS FAILURE MODE: Inver Grove Heights MN data center moratorium amended under lawsuit (2026) (a filed application became a $150M damages demand and the city amended its ordinance rather than litigate, against a $1M insurance cap), Rockford IL (annexation agreement), Cle Elum WA (2002 development agreement), Salem (pre-filed application), Lowell (settlement), Athens (site outside city limits). THE DOCTRINE'S EFFECT: under a pending ordinance doctrine, applications filed after an ordinance is formally proposed or advertised are evaluated against the PROPOSED regulations rather than those in force at filing. Jasper County therefore made its moratorium operative against new filings FROM INTRODUCTION, not from final adoption, eliminating the gap without needing emergency procedure. COMPARE THE ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS RECORDED HERE, ALL OF WHICH USE SPEED RATHER THAN DOCTRINE: McDonald OH one-year data center moratorium (2026) (emergency ordinance passed in under five minutes at a special meeting, which in Ohio also takes effect immediately and forecloses referendum); Hopkinton RI emergency 60-day data center moratorium (2026) (emergency 60-day ban); Clarendon County SC emergency zoning loophole closure (2026) (emergency measure at second reading, same state); and the acceptance-barring formulations at Arcata CA 45-day data center moratorium (2026), Marysville KS 12-month data center moratorium (2026) and Gregg Township PA data center moratorium resolution (2026). A DOCTRINE DOES NOT REQUIRE AN EMERGENCY FINDING AND DOES NOT EXPIRE WITH THE MORATORIUM. STATUS IS RECORDED AS `proposed`: THE MORATORIUM ITSELF PASSED ONLY FIRST READING and is not adopted; the pending ordinance doctrine is reported as ENACTED by the same action, which is what gives the first reading immediate protective effect. SOUTH CAROLINA CLUSTER: Laurens County SC one-year data center moratorium (2026), One-year moratorium on new data center applications, sc-colleton-county-... , Clarendon County SC emergency zoning loophole closure (2026), sc-public-utility-commission-...-large-load-tariff, plus Clinton SC in the queue. NOT ESTABLISHED: the vote, how many further readings are required, the doctrine's precise terms, and whether the moratorium has since been finally adopted.