A temporary moratorium immediately bars the acceptance and processing of new applications to rezone property to the EU-3 Large-Scale Data Center District. It lasts until 11:59 p.m. on January 1, 2028, may be extended by the Board, and may be ended earlier by the Board. moratorium on new EU-3 rezoning applications

Large-scale data centers must obtain EU-3 rezoning, unless the property is already in the EU-3 district, and must submit and obtain approval of a major site plan before approval. rezoning to the EU-3 zoning district

Small-scale data centers must comply with the standards in Section 107-151(d) through (m), which include major-site-plan, setback, infrastructure, noise, and related requirements. Small-Scale Data Center requirements

The ordinance classifies a facility as large-scale if it has an electrical design capacity over 20 MW or uses more than 50 gallons per minute of water. Phased or multi-building campuses are measured in the aggregate, preventing separate phases from being treated as smaller facilities. Large-scale data center definition

A large-scale data center rezoning application must include property legal descriptions, a project description and timeline, a water study, and an Economic Development Agreement approved by the Board of Supervisors. information required with a rezoning application

Before the first building permit, the applicant must submit additional materials, including a waste-management plan, utility-supply verification, lighting plan, backup-power plan, road-use agreement, pre-construction noise analysis, water-use agreement, emergency-response plan, and stormwater, pollution-prevention, erosion-control, and building-foundation information. requirements before the first building permit

Data centers must be at least 200 feet from property lines and generally at least 1,000 feet from the closest outer wall of a public-assembly building and from residentially zoned property, including residential property inside city limits. The Board may reduce the 1,000-foot setback by majority vote after consulting an impacted city. required setbacks

The site must have access to a hard-surfaced road with sufficient capacity and a continuous hard-surfaced connection to a county arterial or state or federal highway. street-access requirement

Applicants must identify roads used for construction, operation, or maintenance and obtain applicable weight and size permits before construction. They must conduct pre- and post-construction roadway surveys and enter into a road-use agreement that can require maintenance, dust-control responsibilities, and financial assurance such as a bond, letter of credit, escrow, or guarantee. road-use and financial-assurance requirements

The applicant is responsible for repairing damage to public drainage systems caused by construction, operation, or maintenance and must acknowledge the damage and repair responsibility within 72 hours of discovering it. drainage-repair obligation

Operating equipment must meet noise limits of 55 dBA or 65 dBC at occupied structures on adjacent residentially zoned property, or 65 dBA or 75 dBC for other adjacent property. Elevated-noise testing, maintenance, and construction activities are generally limited to 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. noise limits and restricted activity hours

A certified INCE professional or licensed professional engineer must complete pre- and post-construction noise evaluations, and additional evaluations at the operator’s expense beginning five years after the end of construction and every five years thereafter while the facility operates. recurring noise evaluations

Approval is conditioned on demonstrating a reliable water supply without undue adverse impacts on existing users, aquifers, or watersheds. A qualified professional must prepare a planning-level water study, and before any building permit the applicant must enter into a water-use agreement covering monitoring, reporting, data sharing, contingencies, and coordination with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. water-supply and water-use requirements

Before or at the time of EU-3 rezoning, the applicant must enter into a Board-approved Economic Development Agreement. The agreement must create a Community Betterment Fund or similar mechanism for infrastructure, services, environmental protection, workforce development, or other community benefits, and the applicant must consider a property-value protection plan. Economic Development Agreement requirements

Before any ground disturbance, the applicant must submit an emergency-response plan addressing specified contingencies, including severe weather, fire, security, transmission or capacity problems, environmental and chemical incidents, pipelines, and medical emergencies. The plan must address evacuation and battery-energy-storage incidents when applicable and be coordinated with local first responders, County Emergency Management, and County Public Health. emergency-response-plan requirement

A rezoning applicant must mail notice to property owners and tenants within 1,000 feet within 14 days after filing, hold a public informational meeting before the Planning and Zoning Commission hearing, and submit contact lists, notices, and a notarized mailing affidavit to the County. notification and public-meeting requirements

The EU-3 district makes large-scale data centers a principal permitted use, although the property generally must first be rezoned to EU-3 and undergo major-site-plan review. Large-scale Data Centers

The EU-3 district expressly permits supporting facilities and infrastructure, including battery storage, on-site renewable generation, backup generation, substations, switchyards, microgrids, water-treatment and recycling facilities, and incidental offices and maintenance facilities. Accessory Uses

Small-scale data centers are allowed under the use table in several zoning districts, including as a conditional use in agricultural, highway commercial, general commercial, and industrial districts, subject to the listed requirements. Small-scale data center

For phased or multi-building data-center campuses, the applicant generally does not have to resubmit certain infrastructure, waste, lighting, backup-power, road-use, noise, water-use, and emergency-response materials for later buildings if those buildings were contemplated in the initial submission and the project scope and footprint have not substantially changed. shall not be required to submit or resubmit

The Board of Supervisors may reduce the otherwise required 1,000-foot setback from residentially zoned property and places of public assembly, by majority vote and consultation with any impacted city. may reduce this setback

Adjacent property owners may voluntarily waive the applicable noise limits through a written and recorded waiver, allowing a data center to operate at higher average hourly decibel levels for that property. written and recorded waiver

The noise rules allow equipment testing, maintenance, and construction that generate elevated noise outside the normal hours if approved by the Zoning Administrator, and the ordinance states that approval shall not be unreasonably withheld. shall not be unreasonably withheld

The required Economic Development Agreement may describe incentives the project operator will receive, subject to the agreement’s terms. The agreement must also create a Community Betterment Fund or similar mechanism, but the County retains discretion over the form, structure, and use of the funds or benefits. description of any incentives

The ordinance permits applicants to redact confidential or proprietary information from emergency-response-plan submissions, and provides that information claimed as confidential will be handled under Iowa’s open-records law, subject to the statutory limits. may redact confidential or proprietary information

An immediate moratorium bars the acceptance and processing of new applications to rezone property to the EU-3 Large-Scale Data Center District in unincorporated Linn County.

The moratorium remains in effect until 11:59 p.m. Central Time on January 1, 2028, and the Board may extend it if additional time is needed for studies, stakeholder coordination, regional planning, public input, or regulatory amendments.

The Board may separately allow an application during the moratorium only for a data center co-located with an existing or proposed nuclear generating facility or utility-scale solar facility that shares a common point of interconnection, and only if the Board finds it consistent with the resolution’s public purposes.

Large-scale data center projects under Linn County’s February 2026 ordinance must complete a water study during the planning process demonstrating that sufficient water is available.

Large-scale data center projects must execute a binding water-use agreement with Linn County that includes water-use tracking and reporting requirements.

Large-scale data center projects must execute an economic development agreement specifying community benefits.

The Board may separately accept and process an application for a large-scale data center co-located with an existing or proposed nuclear generating facility or utility-scale solar facility, provided the facilities share a common point of interconnection and the Board finds the application consistent with the resolution’s public purposes.

The moratorium is temporary and expires at 11:59 p.m. Central Time on January 1, 2028; the Board may also terminate it earlier after adopting data-center-related Unified Development Ordinance amendments or determining that amendments are no longer necessary. The Board may extend it if additional review time is needed.