DENVER — Denver City Council unanimously approved a one-year moratorium on new data center construction, which goes into effect Thursday.
Over the next 12 months, the council will form a task force to study the impacts of data centers and develop stronger regulations.
Nearly 60 Denverites showed up to Monday night's public comment, voicing concerns over health impacts and water usage.
Many of those – residents of the Globeville Elyria Swansea neighborhood, who have spent about a year opposing the Coresite data center being built just steps from their homes.
Community activist Alessandra Chavira described the ongoing struggle.
"We're kind of like trying to build the boat as we're sailing," Chavira said. "It's a dishonor to the community.”
Community members have been very vocal about the lack of regulations on data centers in Denver for some time.
"I'm hopeful that the City and County of Denver will actually impose a moratorium to give them some breathing space and to determine whether or not this is something you really want to do," Morey Wolfson told Denver7 back in February.
71 percent of Colorado cities do not have specific data center regulations at the moment, according to the city and county of Denver.
During Monday’s public comment, Shannon Hoffman made a direct appeal to council members.
"You would never want your mother to live next to this building, I promise you that," Hoffman said.
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Jesus Loaiza was among those urging the council to skip the moratorium and go straight for a ban.
"I want it to be clear that a pause is not enough," Loaiza said.
Others called for a more balanced approach.
"We're registered neutral on this bill... pausing to understand impacts before writing regulation is the reasonable approach," said Britt Diehl, vice president of external affairs for the Downtown Denver Partnership.
Some local unions argued that data center construction has provided critical economic benefits for their members. Julian Aguilar, assistant business manager for IBEW Local 68, made the case for the jobs at stake.
"This data center has the opportunity to last at least ten years. That's ten years of wages and benefits for our members," Aguilar said.
City leaders said the moratorium will not apply to the Coresite facility due to the level of construction (it’s scheduled to be completed later this summer) as well as the approvals that were provided to the developer.
“This moratorium is not about CoreSite. It’s about future data center development. There are already nearly 50 data centers in Denver Metro area, operated by dozens of companies,” a Coresite spokesperson told Denver7 on Monday. “Any potential regulations will be established by the working group. Together with the businesses that utilize data centers, the labor organizations that help build them and the technology leaders advocating for a strong digital economy, we look forward to observing the work of the task force and supporting it, where possible, with accurate information about data centers and their essential role in modern life.”
Any subsequent phases of the project, though, would come to a halt during the moratorium.
The public hearing sparked a lengthy discussion about data center impacts among Denver city council members.
“I just don’t see how we can even consider allowing this,” said at-large council member Sarah Parady after learning about health impacts.
Multiple city council members expressed regret over allowing the Coresite data center’s construction in the first place after hearing more than two hours of testimony from neighbors.
“I wanted to personally take a moment and apologize to you all,” Denver City Council president Amanda Sandoval told GES residents, “That was a misstep. I am so sorry that it came to this. It should not have come to this.”
GES Coalition organizer Alfonso Espino said the community's work is far from over despite Monday’s vote.
"The real fight is going to be about what comes after the moratorium," Espino said.
Chavira said she remains focused on the best possible outcome for her neighborhood.
"Best case scenario, the data centers are shut down, [Coresite’s] building is shut down, and we use that building to actually provide and contribute something beneficial for the community," Chavira said.
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