{
  "id": "mo-stcharles-county-moratorium-2026",
  "jurisdiction": "MO",
  "kind": "ordinance",
  "status": "enacted",
  "title": "St. Charles County Six-Month Moratorium on Large-Scale Data Center Development",
  "citation": "St. Charles County Council ordinance/bill, introduced by County Executive Steve Ehlmann and sponsored by Council members Mike Elam and Patti York at the June 29, 2026 council meeting; approved by the County Council the night of Monday, July 13, 2026 (St. Louis Public Radio's account, published July 14, 2026 5:00 AM CDT, describes the vote as occurring 'Monday night'). The specific bill/ordinance number was NOT recovered this tick -- the county's own legislative-file/Legistar-equivalent system was not located and fetched raw within the slice budget; this row is grounded in the county's own pre-vote news article (sccmo.org) plus St. Louis Public Radio's independent, contemporaneous passage account, per the collector's discretion to record local measures on 'a primary or solid local source' where the ordinance text itself is not reachable in-budget.",
  "docket_no": null,
  "agency": "St. Charles County Council; County Executive Steve Ehlmann (proposing)",
  "utility": null,
  "verification": "unverified",
  "updated_at": "2026-08-21T06:41:30.880586+00:00",
  "record_url": "https://verifiedatlas.com/i/mo-stcharles-county-moratorium-2026/",
  "snapshot_built_at": "2026-09-14T14:33:17+00:00",
  "sources": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.sccmo.org/m/newsflash/home/detail/2752",
      "pinpoint": "paras. 1, 3-4, 6",
      "quote": "The St. Charles County Council is considering a proposal from County Executive Steve Ehlmann to put a six-month moratorium on large-scale data centers. ... The plan, introduced at the June 29 council meeting, would use the County Government’s environmental and health protection authority to enact the moratorium throughout the entire county—including inside city boundaries, where County regulations don’t usually apply. ... The proposed moratorium defines “large scale” data centers as having an electrical demand of more than 5 megawatts, occupying more than 100,000 square feet, or having multiple buildings intended to function together as a data center. ... The proposed moratorium could come up for a vote as soon as the July 13 council meeting.",
      "quote_chars": 752,
      "title": "County Council Considers Six-Month Moratorium on Big Data Centers • St Charles County, MO",
      "source_type": "government",
      "verification": "unverified"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.stlpr.org/government-politics-issues/2026-07-14/st-charles-county-officials-approve-half-year-ban-on-data-center-projects-alter-senior-tax-freeze",
      "pinpoint": "paras. 1-2, and the ordinance-definition paragraph",
      "quote": "Applause rang out in the St. Charles County Council's chambers on Monday night as the council approved a six-month ban on large-scale data center developments. The temporary moratorium, as well as a change to the city’s senior property tax freeze program, were approved unanimously. ... The county’s moratorium prohibits the approval of any new developments or expansions of large-scale data centers, which the ordinance defines as a development larger than 100,000 square feet or exceeding an electrical demand of 5 megawatts.",
      "quote_chars": 527,
      "title": "St. Charles County officials approve half-year ban on data center projects, alter senior tax freeze",
      "source_type": "journalism",
      "verification": "unverified"
    }
  ],
  "threshold_mw": 5,
  "mandatory": true,
  "summary": "St. Charles County's own pre-vote news article (sccmo.org, posted July 6, 2026) describes a proposal from County Executive Steve Ehlmann, introduced at the June 29, 2026 council meeting: 'The St. Charles County Council is considering a proposal from County Executive Steve Ehlmann to put a six-month moratorium on large-scale data centers.' The plan 'would use the County Government's environmental and health protection authority to enact the moratorium throughout the entire county -- including inside city boundaries, where County regulations don't usually apply.' Sponsoring council members Mike Elam and Patti York's stated goal, per the same article, was 'to give the County time to study the potential impacts on public health, water resources, electric utility infrastructure, environmental quality, light pollution and noise conditions.' The article defines the moratorium's trigger: 'The proposed moratorium defines \"large scale\" data centers as having an electrical demand of more than 5 megawatts, occupying more than 100,000 square feet, or having multiple buildings intended to function together as a data center.' The county's article notes 'There are no data center proposals before us, but one could come at any time' (Ehlmann) and states the vote could come 'as soon as the July 13 council meeting.' St. Louis Public Radio's independent July 14, 2026 account confirms passage: 'Applause rang out in the St. Charles County Council's chambers on Monday night as the council approved a six-month ban on large-scale data center developments... The temporary moratorium, as well as a change to the city's senior property tax freeze program, were approved unanimously.' STLPR further reports the enacted ordinance's own definition matches the county's pre-vote description ('a development larger than 100,000 square feet or exceeding an electrical demand of 5 megawatts') and that District 2 Councilman Joe Brazil unsuccessfully sought a longer (12-month) moratorium or an outright ban, arguing 'Six months is nothing.' STLPR also reports St. Charles County 'followed the lead of the City of St. Charles, which passed a yearlong moratorium that eventually led to an outright data center development ban in May [2026]' -- the CITY's separate ban is recorded here as context only, not as its own instrument row (out of this tick's bounded scope; a city-level St. Charles instrument, if pursued, is a future-tick item). No county data-center proposal is on record as of the sources fetched -- consistent with Ehlmann's own quoted rationale that the moratorium is precautionary."
}